Belsem, the student who started a school

Growing up among Philadelphia, Jordan, Pakistan, and now London, Belsem Aljobry has spent much of her life navigating borders, identities, and expectations. In this conversation, she reflects on what it means to belong to many places at once: the daughter of an Iraqi Shi'i father and Pakistani Sunni mother, raised by a fiercely independent single mom she still calls “home.” From building a girls’ school in Pakistan while still a college student to working with the U.S. Embassy in London, Beslem speaks candidly about faith, migration, education, and the power of empathy across political and cultural divides. Her story is one of constant movement, but also of searching for connection, purpose, and a way to bridge worlds that are too often kept apart.