Running is a state I live in constantly. During my childhood, the energy of life within me was so strong that I ran everywhere. In my adolescence, I ran out of fear for my growing body and for the expectations that awaited me. Then, I continued to run in order to not lose my status among the men of my generation. I ran to learn, to gain independence, and to avoid being returned to my parents’ love and control. I ran also to prevent society from putting me into the category of inferiority that is traditionally assigned to women. I continued running until running became my second nature. Since arriving in America, I also run in order to cope with the sense of alienation, to fulfill my academic obligations, and to gain enough knowledge to return to Egypt. Radwa Ashur completed her doctorate in Afro-American literature at Amherst College in Massachusetts. We shared the details of her journey, her memories, and her relationships with those around her in this new community that she wasn’t originally going to join.It’s inevitable that those who know nothing about what lies ahead will never be able to prepare themselves for it. It’s like generations of messengers who have gone and returned, still filled with the passion for imperial glory. But she went away as a conscious Egyptian woman who was a fighter and the wife of a Palestinian poet who believed in his cause.