By Michelle Smith - Staff Writer

        "When you share your life, you open doors for others to come in."
        Through these opening words by Farah Ahmedi, a 17 year-old from Afghanistan and published author, she began to tell the story of her life to Elmhurst College students and community on Tuesday, May 2 in Illinois Hall.
        Of 6,000 entrants to a recent Good Morning America best seller contest, Ahmedi's story was selected as the life story America wants to know.
        "My book is about holding on when the thread is ready to break," Ahmedi said as she began to retell her compelling life story to the present audience.
        As a young girl in Afghanistan, she loved to learn and enjoyed going to school everyday. She said her story began when she was late for school one day and took a shortcut.
        During Ahmedi's youth, land mines were all over Afghanistan, and according to Ahmedi, land mines don't care who they kill. They were colorful, which made children want to play with them. Ahmedi was 7 years old on the fateful day she stepped on a land mine. The incident resulted in the amputation of her leg.
        Her only chance of survival was to receive care in a German hospital. She spent the next two years there, and it was in Germany that Ahmedi learned of America.
        When she returned to Afghanistan, her mother and she were alone, so their only hope was a refugee camp in Pakistan. Ahmedi was only 12 years-old and she had already lost her country, family, leg, and childhood.
        Ahmedi said the only thing that pulled her through was the dream of coming to America. When she did make it overseas, she was a high school freshman who couldn't read, write, or speak English.
        In America, she met Alice, a woman who helped care for and educate Ahmedi. It was Alice who convinced her that America would want to hear her story.
        "She always told me that I was smart and special," Ahmedi said of Alice.
        Ahmedi also told the audience to be thankful to be in America, the country with all the opportunities it has to offer.
        "God has put angels in my path every step of the way," she said. "There are no promises of an easy life, but God will be with me."
        Ahmedi plans on making a difference in the world. She said she also wants to go to college before she writes another book. And this dream is also one that will come true when she begins attending North Central College in Naperville this summer. NCC is giving Ahmedi a full scholarship.
        Ahmedi closed her talk with an inspirational poem she wrote, after telling the audience to hold onto their dreams and believe that anything is possible.
        Many students who attended the night's lecture, hosted by the Coalition for Multicultural Empowerment (CME) and Progressive Organization of Women, felt moved by Ahmedi's story.
        "I was amazed at how much she has experienced and she is only 17," said Dain Gotto, a senior History major and a member of CME. "It's not too often we have speakers from that part of the world. It had a much greater impact because she is of age to be attending Elmhurst College."
        Additionally, Chris Cook, an EC freshman English and Theatre major said, "I thought she was moving and inspirational, I definitely think anytime we can get a different perspective on things makes us a more enriched community."