As a half Syrian youth, I've always held pride in my identity as a descendant from one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. It's something that many Syrians take pride in. Our country, our land, our history, and our culture work to shape our unique identities. However significant the country may be, it has dealt with many recent conflicts and has been under the spotlight.

Syria, as a country, is home to some of humankind's most ancient civilizations with over 7,000 years of complex culture and history. It is most well known for its UNESCO verified archaeological and World Heritage sites in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo. The country has also been an important trade hub in the Middle East for centuries with many of the oldest markets and resources with a variety of oil, gas, minerals, and more. Due to the abundance of these resources, many western nations such as the United States and France have attempted to gain control over Syria in order to more easily access its resources and other nations around it.

Syria has remained as one of the last standing Arab nations to be against Israel, and therefore against the American support of it. However, after the recent overthrowing of Bashar-Al Asad in the city of Damascus, the rebel leader and former head of ISIS—a terrorist group that was created during the U.S. invasion of Iraq and eventually entered Syria, taking advantage of the chaos during the 2011 conflict—in Syria, Mohammad Al-Jolani, has shown his support for Israel. With his forceful taking of power, he has caused chaos and dismay for many of those throughout Syria. Israel is now striking sites in Syria, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR) said that the attacks had some of the "heaviest strikes" in decades in that region. Even stealing their resources to such an extent that now Israel has 30% of Syria's Fresh water supply.

"For me, it had an overall negative impact, because it distanced me from my family, my country, my friends, my school and my home. While other people were very happy, all they were thinking about was "finally Bashar has fallen were free". My friend told me that her and her family are trying to find a way to get out of Syria, but the majority were happy. Other than that, prices were falling and rising each hour, plus it was so hard to find food and other supplies that you need on daily basis and mostly there was no bread in the ovens or anywhere because people stole it, and people's shops were closed because of the fear that they would get robbed."

What are your current thoughts on what is going on as a Syrian Youth?

I hope what's happening takes a good turn, and I pray that everyone I love stays safe. I just wish in the future things go back like how they used to be and much better.

If there is one thing that you would want to tell others about what is going on, what would you say and why?

What's happening in Syria is unfair, because Syria is really such a breathtaking place. It only needs people who realize the beauty of it. Syria has everything you could want from the food to nature and such a beautiful history. We want someone that can invest in it well and benefit the citizens all over the country. I want it how it used to be before, I'm not necessarily saying Bashar Al-Assad's regime was good nor the opposition forces staging current attacks. My point is, we want leadership with a heart for the citizens, a kind, and good one that serves freedom and justice for everyone, we want a place that we can call home.

Months have passed since these incidents took place and there are thousands of youths' stories that remain untold. The least that we can do is to understand what is going on in these places, outside of what we are told by mainstream media. There are youth, just like us, who are facing hardships all around the world that we can barely comprehend, the best we can do is to understand their situations, and not be ignorant to the atrocities that they face. In Syria, all some of these youth want is a place that they can truly call home.