Yaacoobi 1

Heela Yaacoobi
Mr. Harris
US History
25 February 2015

Sajia Sophia Asefi Yaacoobi

My mother, Sajia Sophia Asefi, was born on October 1, 1966 in Kabul, Afghanistan. She
was the second oldest of four children in her family. She was born into a very affluent family.
Her father, Samad Asefi, was a photographer for the king and many other wealthy people. Her
mother, Jamila Asefi, was a principal at a girls high school in Kabul. My mother was used to
being pampered, as she had a chauffeur, a cook, and a nanny. Her favorite childhood activities
included bike riding, roller blading, and picnicking. She lived in the Wazir Akbar Khan
neighborhood mentioned frequently in the book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. All that
was so familiar and dear disappeared when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, sending my
mothers family and thousands of other Afghan families to flee their homeland. Right before
they were due to leave the country, my mothers father passed away. This tragic event stayed
with my family for decades and still bears a heavy weight on my mothers shoulders. My mother
was flown to Germany after the invasion. She spent two years in Germany, learning a whole new
language and trying to assimilate to a whole new country. Sajia was in the seventh grade when
she arrived, and faced a lot of difficulties with trying to learn a new language and fit into the new
school system. Her favorite activities in Germany included going to the bakery every morning to
get fresh bread. She also enjoyed visiting her cousins and going to the local fairs. My mothers
family decided to go to the United States after her uncle moved to Virginia. My family had heard
the standard immigrant view of America. They had heard that it was the land of opportunities

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and riches. Sajia moved to Fairfax, Virginia into an old, roach infested apartment building. Her
view on America was changed directly after she moved into the apartment. When she turned 16,
she got a job at a local fast food restaurant to support herself while going to high school. She
loved dogs and was a puppy breeder for Shih Tzu Dogs. At one point, she had over six dogs at
once! Sajia was a straight A student and got accepted into George Mason University where she
studied chemistry. She then had to pick up more jobs to help pay for her tuition, car, books,
insurance, and clothes. My mother met my father in high school, and they even attended their
junior prom together. After my mother finished college, they decided to get married and move to
California to be with my mothers sister. They moved to Modesto, California and lived there for
about two years before moving into a town house in Walnut Creek, California. A couple of years
after they moved to Walnut Creek, I was born. My mother was working the graveyard shift at a
pharmaceutical company in Emeryville, California, while my father worked the day shift in
Walnut Creek. She worked hard all night and slept minimal hours during the day while trying to
take care of her newborn. Three years after I was born, my mother gave birth to my brother. That
is when she figured that our small town house would not be fit to house a growing family. She
constantly looked for a house for us to move into, but it was hard because of our financial
standpoint. We finally found a house on the Walnut Creek-Concord border. Sajia was moving up
positions at her job, which included a pay raise which helped us with the mortgage payment.
Years later, Sajia has become a senior manager at Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals. Her
favorite activities at the age of 48 include gardening, swimming, hiking, and taking care of her
beloved Shih Tzu puppy, Bailey. Family and education are the two most important things in my
mothers life right now. She likes to find peace in her religion and her gardening. She loves to go
on road trips where she can experience nature and get out of the office. She believes that

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spending time with her family is the answer to all of her problems and solves most of her stress.
Sajia is a hardworking, strong woman who has conquered many obstacles in her path.
Abdullah Yaacoobi
My father, Abdullah Yaacoobi was born on September 7, 1965, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He was the second oldest child of four. He has one older brother, Ahmad Wali, a younger
brother, Hamid, and a younger sister named Wajmah. My father is from an ethnic minority in
Afghanistan called the Pashtuns. They speak a different language than Farsi, called Pashto.
However, my father was mostly spoken to in Farsi, so he did not know as much Pashto as his
parents. As a young boy, my father enjoyed playing soccer, flying kites, and playing pranks on
other kids. My dad attended the French Istiqlal School in Kabul. In the winters, my fathers
family would travel south to Jalalabad, where a prominent Pashtun community lived. My dad
lived in an affluent neighborhood like my mother, and was raised with luxuries such as
chauffeurs, nannies, and cooks. My dads favorite pastime was going to the movie theaters and
watching dubbed western movies with his friends. He enjoyed playing pranks on family
members and other kids. However, in Afghanistan in the 1970s teachers were very strict. They
would punish disobedient students by hitting their hands with a piece of wood. My father often
told me about the times he disobeyed his teacher and gotten blistered hands from the punishment.
My father went up to eighth grade in the Afghan school system before leaving for Germany to
settle with a large Afghan community during the war. My father and his brother snuck across the
border into Pakistan before flying to Germany. My father met my mother in Germany and their
families knew each other very well. After spending two years in Germany, my fathers family
moved to Northern Virginia. There, he attended T.C. Williams High School. He graduated and
went to Junior College. As a teenager, my father enjoyed listening to music and spending time

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with my mother. Unfortunately, after Abdullah and my mother got married, his father passed
away. This event was tragic and pushed my father to move to California with my mother.
Moving would give my father a place to start new and forget his sorrows. His plan worked and a
couple years later his first child was born. He was a busy father and loved to spend time with his
small family whenever he had the chance. However, being the only member of his family to be
across the country took a toll on him and he started to miss his family back in Virginia. He took
frequent trips to try and ease his yearning. His second child was born on February 19, 2001, and
after that his family was complete. He worked at Macys in downtown Walnut Creek while
trying to find a more stable job to support his family. He later started his own limousine business
and prospered at his new profession. He specialized in San Francisco and the Napa Valley. In
2013, something spectacular happened to Abdullah. His brothers family decided to move to
California. He flew to Virginia to help them pack up their belongings and sort out a moving van.
This was the first time his immediate family would be living close to him in 20 years! He was
very excited and California seemed to be more like home ever since they had announced their
move. Along with his brother, his mother would be coming to live in Concord with them. There
is nothing like the ability to have your mother live close by and to have that closeness. Now, at
the age of 49, Abdullahs favorite pastimes include going on trips to the beach, spending time
with his family, and watching movies. Abdullah loves to travel and his favorite places include
Hawaii, Cancun, Florida, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite. Abdullah is a successful businessman and
a wonderful father.

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Hoosai Roya Kabiri

Hoosai Roya Kabiri, my best friend and also my older cousin, was born on May 11, 1992
in Modesto, California. Hoosai is my cousin from my mothers side and even though she is six
years older than me, she is my best friend. Ever since her early school years, Hoosai was a
straight A student and always stayed on top of her honor roll. Her favorite hobbies included
playing basketball, rollerblading and reading. She attended Grace M. Davis high school in
Modesto, California. There, she maintained a GPA above a 4.0 and took part in countless
extracurricular activities. She volunteered at her local hospital, took part in debates, and led her
math club.
After she graduated high school in 2008, Hoosai proceeded to University of California,
Davis, where she majored in political science and history. She commuted to Davis from Martinez
for one year before her family made the move to Fairfield to be closer to her. At UC Davis, she
became president of the Afghan Student Association club, which she used to raise money for
helping war-affected children in Afghanistan by organizing charity banquets and events. Hoosai
graduated from UC Davis in 2013 and had plans to apply to law school. She took a year off to
study for the LSAT and scored a near perfect score. She decided to attend UC Davis School of
Law because it was ranked very high in academic ratings. She just finished her first semester at
UC Davis School of Law and she received straight As for every one of her classes! I could not
be more proud of her and I am excited to see where her high ambitions will take her. Hoosai is
one of the most kind, outgoing, carefree people I know. She gets along with just about anyone
and is an avid speaker on topics of racial and social injustices. When I become older, I wish to
have the same motivation and ambitions as Hoosai. She is truly perfect in every way, yet she is
one of the most humble people I know.

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