Living in Syria was dangerous for brothers freshmen Mehear and Yamien Al Laben, and even after leaving Syria and resettling in Jordan to escape from the conflict, they still faced more opposition. Unexpected raids would often occur, leaving the boys in utter shock.

“The Syrian military would come into houses early to beat people up and break the house,” Mehear said through Perry Township translator Hiba Al Awadh.

The boys and their family walked for 30 minutes from Syria to Jordan and then applied to become refugees, which took 5 years for the Al Laben family.

The purpose of resettling to Jordan was to move for a better life. However, that is not what happened. Their safety was still at risk even after coming to Jordan.

“We would get beat up for being Syrian,” Mehear said through Al Awadh.

The brothers also include that their home country and the US contrast drastically. In Syria, the majority of the laws were not enforced. The mentality is also different from the United States.

“You have work to survive,” Yamien said through Al Awadh.

Yamien has since picked up enough English to get by for now in the US. However, him and his brother are both still in the process of learning the new language.

“Whatever we learn in class is usually something we will use later (in everyday life in the US),” Yamien said through Al Awadh.