^[1] KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: When I applied to the American University in Kabul the registrar asked me for my high school diploma and transcripts. I showed him the documents and he told me: “I cannot accept these papers. They’re not official.”

He said so because I attended high school in Peshawar, Pakistan. “You must go back to Peshawar to have your documents verified and attested,” said the registrar.

I told him that in the 1990s I had moved to Pakistan with my family to stay away from the civil war and the Taliban. We were refugees. I tried to convince him that my papers were in order but he would not listen to me.

I was disappointed about having to go all the way to Pakistan just to get a stamp on my papers, particularly since the road is not very safe. But I had no choice so I packed my clothes and went to Peshawar.

After three and half hours on the road the minibus reached Torkham, the border-crossing town between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Torkham is situated in the Khyber Agency of Pakistan, inside that autonomous border region that is known all over the world as a safe haven for militants and terrorists.

Pakistani militias aligned with the government stopped everybody at the border gate. There were rumors that a military operation against the Taliban was taking place some 15 kilometers away.

Hundreds of people who wanted to cross the border waited in front of the gate for hours and hours. Most of the people on the Afghan side of the border were sick or suffered from severe conditions and wanted to go to Pakistan for treatment. We all waited together for nearly three hours.

When the militias finally let us through I got in a shared taxi headed to Peshawar City. The driver charged 700 Pakistani Rupees per passenger, which was double the normal cost of the journey from Torkham to Peshawar. Of course, war always drives prices up.

Along the road I saw burnt oil tankers that had been hit by the Taliban and smoldering houses that had been bombarded by the Pakistani Air Force. Everybody was scared and anxious to reach Peshawar. We arrived there in the evening.

The following day I started my the verification and attestation of my documents. It took me three days to complete all the paperwork. After that I returned to Kabul and brought the stamped documents to the registrar at the American University. In the end I was admitted into the undergraduate program. I hope the university won’t need any more papers from me anytime soon. I don’t want to take that journey again.