Student from Aleppo fears shift of fate
For Karen Mardini ’18, the Syrian war began the day it reached her doorstep. The conflict between rebels and government forces started in 2011, after rulers in Egypt and Tunisia were toppled in the Arab spring. In the early months, rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad engaged with government forces in Damascus and other parts of the country. The northern city of Aleppo, Mardini’s home, endured occasional power outages, street protests, and armed skirmishes, and residents learned quickly to avoid going out at night. But it wasn’t until the violence shut down her school that Mardini, then in 10th grade, realized that war had finally invaded her life. “What was I going to do?” said Mardini, who was born in Canada and grew up in the residential neighborhood of Al-Sabil, near the old city of Aleppo. “When I heard that the school was closing, I knew I had to leave home.” And so...