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Meddy (Mahdieh) sits outside of her school in Köflach. Like any teenager, she spends most of her time during the day at school, and at night poring over her books. Meddy, now 13, currently attends high school and is avidly studying, takes judo, and is even learning Italian.

Getting a hold of Mahdieh (who now goes by Meddy) is no easy task. This Iranian-born, Afghani asylum seeker spends nearly every evening and weekend buried in books – translating and revising her schoolwork for hours so she can keep up with her peers.

Meddy has made friends, is mastering the complex German language (which just a few years ago was completely unknown to her) and has her feet firmly planted in Austria. So firmly, in fact, that she’s already worrying about school exams that are still years away.

Meddy is ambitious, and is taking advantage of the opportunities she has in Austria that she wouldn’t have had in her homeland. Small things such as being able to study, make decisions for herself, and be what she wants to be when she grows up make a huge difference for her – she wants to become a lawyer or a police officer one day.

“Every day when I wake up, I tell myself, ‘Okay, today I have school,’ ” she says.

She grew up in Iran where her parents of Afghani descent had been living as refugees. Her family left Iran in November of 2015 because their residence permits were not renewed, but it was too dangerous to go to Afghanistan where they have citizenship.

When she first arrived in Voitsberg, she was the only asylum-seeker in her class.

“I didn’t understanding anything!” she laughs “I never thought that I would be able to speak this language, and it was really difficult to do it. Also, one has trouble finding friends in school if you’re an asylum seeker or come from another country. If you can’t speak the language, you won’t have any contact with people.”

However, she took part in German language courses and spent an entire summer shut in studying.  

“The new year was totally different,” she said. “At the beginning I needed a lot of help from my neighbours, but not anymore.”

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“I can do everything! Well, not everything,” she says. “Actually, because here equal rights are actually equal. In our homeland, it’s not. Here, as a girl, I can say what I want!”

Meddy is already thinking about university and wants to take part in the Erasmus study programme and visit Sweden or Canada or Africa. One day she wants to visit Afghanistan, but and can’t imagine a life there because she’s never been to the country.

However, she is still waiting to hear whether or not her application for asylum will be accepted so that she may stay in Austria. Meddy believes that if she stays positive and believes in herself, good things can happen. There are a few things she does miss, though.

“I miss my language, Farsi,” she says with a smile and a hint of a southern Austrian accent.