My name is Mirlinda Sejdiu, I was born on a hot summer day on July, 10th. I grew up in small village from Kosovo. I lived in a big family, where my family members educated me, taught me how to behave and show respect among others around me. In my early childhood, I didn’t grow up in place where there was peace. In Kosovo in the late 1990’s, there were lot of demonstrations, crimes, you basically just heard a lot of bad news that were happening at that time due to unfair treatment that Kosovars were getting from Serbs.
On April 5, 1999 there was a colorful bright orange and purple sky where the sun went down, the birds went to their own houses, but not me. I left my home empty, the doors open, my heart broken and filled with fear, but also with the hope that I would be back soon. I passed cities, countries, oceans, fleeing from my home country due to war. I lived as an involuntary immigrant, a war refugee, who was forced to come to America.