Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Early Years....................................  page 5

Chapter 2 College Years ................................ page 9

Chapter 3 Civil Engineering............................ page 18

Chapter 4 Life After College ......................... page 21

Chapter 5 Water Resource Engineering .... page 25

Chapter 6 Challenges ...................................... page 27

Glossary ............................................................... page 28

Qom, Iran

Chapter 1

Meet Zainab, she was born in Qom, Iran in 1990. She and her family lived there until she completed  8th-grade studies. That is when her father's job took them to Libya which is located in Northern Africa.

Libya, North Africa

Since Persian is her native language Zaniab attended an Iranian school here. During these years her interest in engineering grew. In Libya, the combinations of colors, construction, and unique designs had her wondering how these buildings were constructed.

Due to her interest in engineering, it was important for Zainab to take courses in mathematics and physics to prepare for the future.

Kabul, Afghanistan

Chapter 2

After graduating high school her father's work brought the family to Kabul, Afghanistan. Here is where Zainab began looking at universities. 

The universities in Kabul lacked quality education due to political changes. During this time there were limited opportunities for females in advanced education. This meant Zaniab had to look at other countries for university.

She began her search for countries that offered scholarships for Afghanis wanting to study civil engineering.  These countries included: Japan, Kyrgyzstan, India, China, and Turkey.

Eventually, she secured a full scholarship to Turkey. But it was not an easy road. 

To obtain this scholarship, Zainab traveled alone from Kabul to Bamyan. In Afghanistan, women are discouraged from traveling alone due to social constraints.  

This was not an easy decision for her father. Zainab and her father knew her best chance of receiving a scholarship was in Bamyan due to the lack of applicants.  

Kabul

Once in Kabul, Zainab had to take the stage exam and an in-person interview. As a result 

of passing these, the scholarship process began. This process took a month and she faced many challenges during this time.

Zainab's challenges included being judged more harshly than her male counterparts, lack of educational opportunities, and restrictions on everyday life decisions. 

Zainab achieved the scholarship and moved to Eskisehir, Turkey to study civil engineering. 

While at Anadolu University her team placed 2nd for their senior project of a Design Diversion Weir structure. 

Once she completed her bachelor's degree in 2016 Zainab returned to Afghanistan and worked for a private company.