Three years after she moved to Canada following the murder of her father, a 19-year-old girl from Afghanistan has graduated from high school and is now making plans for university.
Roya Shams moved to Ottawa in 2012 after her father, a district police commander in Kandahar, was killed by the Taliban.
She says her father instilled the importance of formal education into his five daughters before his death.
"His spirit, his love, his care was with me," she told CTV Ottawa on Saturday.
An online fundraiser helped bring her to Canada to study free from the violence of the Taliban.
She was also helped by Canadian Women for Women of Afghanistan. The charity seeks to help educate Afghan women and their families, and you can find more information here.
Shams has now been awarded a $20,000 scholarship to attend the University of Ottawa for the next step in her education. She plans on studying international development with a minor in international law.
To reach her dream, Shams had to overcome language and cultural barriers when she first stepped into Ottawa’s Ashbury College.
"I was dazed in the halls at Ashbury, not knowing where my classes were, not knowing what a Shakespearean essay was," she told CTV Ottawa. "I had such a low education background."
CTV Chief News Anchor Lisa LaFlamme was one of Roya’s mentors and attended the grad ceremony in Ottawa on Saturday.
“To be here today and to see Roya graduate high school has been very overwhelming for all of us who love her so much. She’s inspired us,” said LaFlamme.
