SAMIR is a refugee from Kosovo who left his country during the refugee crisis of 1999 when Serbian forces threatened Kosovar Albanians until NATO's intervention stopped the aggression. Having fled his home to the nearby country of Macedonia at 3:00 am with his father and his four siblings, SAMIR was finally resettled in the Seattle area in mid-1999. Struggling to learn the English language, SAMIR was referred to the special education class at his high school. ASHLEY, his committed teacher, speaks of the dual-dilemma that faced SAMIR - his lack of understanding the English language and his learning disability. Testing SAMIR to label him for services was difficult considering the test isn't provided in SAMIR's local language. But language wasn't his only obstacle. Two years after coming to the Seattle area, SAMIR's father passed away due to stomach cancer, leaving SAMIR and his two older brothers to care for the younger siblings. Then tragedy struck again when on Labor Day in 2002, his 22-year old brother was in a near-drowning accident, comatose on life support until he passed in January of 2003, leaving behind a girlfriend and a newborn baby. In the midst of such life struggles and at such an early age, SAMIR's appreciation of family and others shines through in his quiet, but profound relationship with his teacher, his dear friend and fellow ESL student, LEO, and his challenged classmates who benefit from his help and his humanity.