What would you do if someone took away your right to learn?

In 2021, the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Khatima was two years into her Computer Science degree. Overnight, she was no longer allowed to finish it.

In 2024, the Imagine Student Airlift Afghan Scholarship changed that.

Khatima moved to Germany, enrolled in a Bachelor’s in Data Science at the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, and began again, this time in a country whose language she didn’t yet speak.

She was excelling at university. She was learning German, her fourth language, alongside her studies. And she was already thinking about how to break into the job market.

So she started applying for working student positions in software development. Over 30 applications. In a country she had just arrived in. In a job market not built for someone with her background.

That is where Imagine’s Career Compass program came in.

Getting Khatima to Germany was only the beginning. What followed was hands-on, practical, and personal.

Through our program, Career Compass, we sat with her and rebuilt her CV from the ground up, translating years of self-taught experience, remote projects, and academic work into a document that spoke the language of German employers.

We coached her through the application process, how to identify the right companies, how to position herself, how to stand out in a competitive market.

And when the interview call finally came, we ran mock sessions with her. Real questions. Honest feedback. Practice until the nerves became confidence.

“They taught me how to answer questions confidently and what types of questions to expect. I also had a mock interview with the Imagine team before the actual interview. It still feels like a dream.” — Khatima Sajadi

She got the offer.

Today Khatima is a working student in Software Development at Validas AG in Munich, securing her position until she completes her degree.

But here is what her story really shows us: talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.

The gap between where Khatima started and where she is today was never about ability. It was about access: to education, to networks, to a system that works for you rather than against you.

Closing that gap is not something one person can do. It takes a scholarship to open the door, a coaching program to prepare her for what’s behind it, volunteers who give their time, and companies willing to look beyond the conventional candidate.

It takes all of us.

Corporate partners — open your doors to exceptional talent that traditional pipelines overlook. Partner with us →

Donors — fund the scholarships and programs that make journeys like Khatima’s possible. Support our work →

Volunteers — one CV review, one mock interview, one conversation. For someone like Khatima, it changes everything. Volunteer →

Read more stories at joinimagine.com/stories