Somali Success Stories

By Maryam Abdi | May 4th, 2015

They say, “You are you are your own worst critic” but today I am my biggest cheerleader.
As my Hooyo (mother) always says, “No Pain, No Gain” and with that being said, I have been waiting to tell this story, the story of my journey so please take the time to read it:

Hi my name is Maryama Abdi, from Eden Priarie, MN.  I’m a 22 year old mom with one child.  I come from a lower middle class single parent household. My Mom’s name is Farrah Osman, my father died in the early 90’s and my mom had 3 children under the age of 5 at the time. She eventually remarried and had my beautiful sister. However after the crackdown after 9/11 regarding immigration my stepfather got deported. That was hard on us because he is the best father anyone could ever ask for. I love him and respect him as if he was my biological father. My mom always said the key to success is Education and my extended family is highly educated so it was always a priority to get it done.

I got married at 18 and the word around town was that I was a few months pregnant. Little did they know, I just wanted to please God and do things the right way. The only promise I made to my mother was to finish college.

However, It was decided for me that I would become a welfare recipient, a college drop out, and/or a divorcee. People didn’t think much of me but I couldn’t blame them because I didn’t either. It didn’t help that I repeated a year of high school as well.

After many tears and the grace of God, I became determined to make something out of myself. I wasn’t going to let anyone or anything get in the way. I wasn’t going to let rumors and words stop me. And I certaintly did not want to become a statistic.

Fast forward three years and this was our first pregnancy/child. Few know this but I had a high risk pregnancy. They told me I was going to miscarry, then possibly have a baby with defects, then finally a chance that my child was going to become a stillborn. My labor was life threatening. I had less than 24 hours to live if I hadn’t given birth.

Being six weeks away from my expected due date I was going to deliver my son. However, there was a chance that me and/or my son wasn’t going to make it,  but my son & I both made it thru the delivery and ended up healthy. My family had expected things to go successfully because they have always called me a survivor.

That being said, the odds were not in my favor. It is said that couples who marry under 25 have the highest rate of divorce & that 2% of mothers between the ages of 15-22 will receive a College Degree by the time they are 30.

I was working, had an internship, lived 30 min away from job and still drove almost every day. To say I was stressed was an understatement.

“One who doesn’t thank others doesn’t thank God”

Though, I lost friends I’ve gained many more. I could not and would not have done it without my amazing support system. Especially my husband Liban, it’s always been me and you against the world.

Thank you for being my rock and being the most patient man while providing. I know it’s been hard and hopefully our hard work will pay off. And Last but not least my great friends who lifted me up when I was down. To those who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. And the ones who didn’t, thanks for motivating me.

I used to cry because of what was being said about me or how people treated me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’m going to make more but it’s about how you recover from it. A wise friend told me “Fall 7, Get up 8″ But today I have tears of joy because I got married young, became a young mom, had to work, got an internship, had my friends and family doubt me, I had my own doubts, gave birth and was recovering from a c section. Took only 3 weeks off, suffered slightly from post partum depression in the midst of midterms. Adjusting to motherhood while my son was in the NICU and didn’t give up.

My son and I fought for our lives and survived with the help of God So we BOTH walked across the stage and picked up my Diploma, I graduated with TWO Degrees AND a minor from Augsburg College and on time! Not bad for being 22, eh?

I hope I can be an inspiration and a positive light because there are negative connatations being a minority, a woman, or being a Muslim so to be all three I hope I can change people’s perception. They say only 1% of the world has a College Degree, if I have to be a statistic of any kind, best believe, I am going to be a part of one that’s in my favor.

This is for the underdogs, let alone women, because I am living proof that we can come on top.

I hope anyone reading this decides to do something great with their lives. Don’t ever give up.

It’s going to be very hard and people are going to talk whether you are doing good or doing bad. I’m not going to lie and say it’s not going to hurt because it will. Probably for a long time but the best revenge is to be the best person you can be. Someone God and society can be proud of. A positive role model.

Mama, I hope I made you proud. This was for you. WE MADE IT!

Next Step: MBA.