Rez Gardi has overcome more hardship and achieved more goals than most people would in an entire lifetime.
The ex-refugee was previously a recipient of the 2017 Young New Zealander of the Year award, as well as an activist for human rights, refugee rights and gender equality.
She recently spoke to SBS Kurdish following her most recent achievement – completing her Master's degree at the Harvard Law School in June.
With her studies out of the way, she planned to travel to the US and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq over the next couple of months for a project to gather evidence of the prosecution of the Kurdish people at the hands of IS.
Rez Gardi with her mother after receiving her degree Source: Supplied
“Now that I finished studying I am involved in a human rights fellowship gathering evidence for the prosecution of IS,” she said.
“So that’s the project I’ll be working on, I will be based in the US and Kurdistan Region in Iraq for the next year building a case against IS. I am really excited to start using my skills to hopefully contribute to the struggle of Yazidis and fight for their rights.”
Ms Gardi was born in a United Nations (UN) refugee camp in Pakistan in 1991.
Rez Gardi, far right, with her fellow graduates Source: Supplied
In Pakistan, she and her parents spent much of the first few years in the camp before eventually being moved into apartment-style blocks where families would share a single room.
What was meant to be a six month stay turned into a nine-year residency, before they were eventually resettled in New Zealand.
Rez, her parents and her siblings at the airport bound for New Zealand Source: Supplied
The young lawyer’s experiences in volunteering with various human rights organisations may have laid the path towards Harvard, however, it was something she first dreamt about after visiting the establishment as a tourist, where she remembered entering a classroom and pretending to be a student.
“I think it was a very faraway dream for me for a long time, but to be honest with you I couldn’t say it was a dream at first because it didn’t seem possible,” she said.
“It was only a few years ago, I was in the US, I was walking around the Harvard Law campus and I happened to walk into a classroom, I was one of the hundreds of tourists walking around mesmerised by the university and pretending to be a student in the classroom because the idea of me studying there was so far away.”
It was during that campus visit that she made a promise to herself that she would do everything in her power to return.
Rez Gardi, pictured with her parents at her law admission. Source: Supplied
What ultimately attracted her to the establishment were the courses being offered and in particular the practical component of the study.
“I think for me it was the reputation of Harvard Law School, the courses on offer. The professors that I wanted to work with were world-renowned lawyers and academics and in particular, the practical component of the study that Harvard Law School offers and the opportunity for law students to practice areas and get an opportunity to represent real clients."
As well as the project in the Kurdistan Region, Ms Gardi said attaining her degree from Harvard would open up new doors.
Rez Gardi as a baby, pictured in her mother's lap in their Kurdish homeland Source: Supplied
“During my Master’s at Harvard Law School I studied and focused particularly on international law, human rights and refugee law. It gave me an opportunity to explore those areas in more detail and to be able to pursue a career in those fields.”
