To Young to Understand,Old Enough to Be Hurt

I was only ten years old when I entered my first boarding school.

Looking back now, I wonder how anyone expected a little girl like me to understand what it meant to leave home.

I was young, innocent, and completely unaware of how much my life was about to change.

My father was away from home most of the time, and my mother had a job that kept her busy. Taking care of all of us wasn't easy for her, so boarding school seemed like the only option I and my younger brother had.

A ten-year-old Muslim girl, carrying her little belongings and stepping into a world that felt much bigger than she was.

At first, I thought boarding school would simply be another school. But I was wrong

My education had always moved quickly. I had been pushed forward in school at a young age, and somehow, I found myself trying to keep up with children who seemed more prepared than I was.

But I wasn't, I couldn't cope.

I started missing classes. Sometimes I would leave the classroom without really knowing why. I was still just a child, and nobody seemed to understand that I wasn't being stubborn I was struggling.

The years passed, and eventually, everything caught up with me.

When I was supposed to move into SS2, my mother made a difficult decision.

She withdrew me from the school.

Instead of continuing the same way, she took me to a place where I could attend both regular school and madrasah.

And then came the part that hurt the most.

I had to repeat a class, I had to go back.

While other students were moving forward, I felt as though my life had suddenly been pushed backwards.I didn't understand it then,all i knew was that I was a young girl who had tried to fit into a world she wasn't ready for and now I had to start again.