Jordan Mufleh received a rejection letter from Brown University in Jordan. The rejection letter was the only time he ever did well on a standardized test, he says. “They only accept one Jordanian,” an old classmate of his classmate, a prince, had doubts about his chances of getting into Brown. “Over there it wasn’t about your title or who you knew, it was about hard work and earning what you got,” he says. “They just do. They just do”.
Dr. Miller wanted me to stay, but at some point during our conversation, I had begun thinking about something back at the house. My father had reminded me of the combination to the safe nearly every time he and his mother left town. If there was ever a reason to flee, riots or war, he said. “They will all say no. We will get you out,” he said firmly. “I had been so stupid: for thinking I could ever be with some-like Julie, for thinking… I would get into Brown or out of it”.
Haverford, Swarthmore, Hobart and William Smith, New York, accepted acceptance letters. Luma Mufleh was the valedictorian at Brown University in New York. He says he was surprised when he was asked to go prom with a friend, but he turned it down because he was gay. He was proud to be a member of the U.S. Muslim community in the United States, he says, and proud to represent his country in the community of his native Arab descent.
New York was still in America, still a place where I might find a way to live life fully on my terms. I couldn’t help but feel cheered up by the festivities, all the friends and family in one room for me. The thought of going to the club with kids I hardly knew didn’t appeal to me. My cousin Subhi was among those heading to a club with his parents, offering to ask my parents to let him join. Hours later, in the steely black of early morning, the phone rang and the hall light came on.