PALO ALTO, Calif. — The day I left Yemen for the United States this past fall was a fairly typical one. On my way to the airport in Sanaa, I could hear the explosions of airstrikes. Out the car window, I could see people standing in long lines to get water and gunmen stationed at security checkpoints.

It had been a year and a half since Yemen’s war broke out. Somehow everyone I saw that morning had managed to survive the violence up to that point. More than 10,000 civilians had not.

On my first morning in California — where I am attending Stanford University — I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. The electricity worked in my dorm room, and when I looked out the window, I saw a street packed with students, walking, bicycling and socializing. If this was a typical American morning, it really did feel like I had come to the land of freedom.

Education is hard to come by in Yemen. Some universities have been destroyed, and others closed down after bombings. At Stanford, though, I can take classes in anything. I love my political science classes, especially one called “Rules of War,” which examines the justifications — ethical and otherwise — for violent conflict or intervention. The class pushes us as students to examine times when countries were not right to go to war — it is a lesson in looking behind the rhetoric of leaders. This emphasis on critical thinking is exhilarating. And the days here are so full: I have friends from different countries, of all colors, backgrounds and religions. The whole community is welcoming and supportive of everyone.