Sadia Abdulkadir is a social work student at Boise State University. Born in Kenya, Sadia is part of a large, tight-knit family who resettled in Boise in 2008, when she was 4.  

“Since I was young, I was able to kind of adapt and change into the culture a bit more,” she said.  

Fashion is a way for Sadia to stay connected to her cultural roots. 

“I just appreciate people representing themselves,” she said. “Sometimes they can feel like they don’t belong unless they look a certain way, and most of the time that means getting rid of a certain aspect of their culture. I wish it was different, because for me I’m really into my culture and I love representing it.” 

Sadia looks forward to using her social work degree to help people. She’s thankful to her parents for what they endured so she and her siblings could have opportunities. 

“When I was younger the word ‘refugee,’ like the stigma around it, I didn’t really like it,” Sadia said. “But now I am definitely proud of being a refugee, and to me there’s a lot of pride within the word because it just reminds me what my family went through, especially my parents.”