Three survivors of the war in Syria share their personal stories of strength and determination under the most difficult of circumstances. The Syrian conflict has raged for five years, and killed half a million people. 11 million refugees have either fled to other countries, or are displaced within Syria. Syrian violinist Mariela Shaker says she “ran under bombs and mortars” to send applications to music programs at colleges in the United States. She received a scholarship to attend Monmouth College. Loubna Mrie, a Syrian activist and photojournalist, talks about her participation in the initial stages of the country’s revolution. And, Kassem Eid, a Palestinian Syrian refugee and human rights activist, survived Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s 2013 sarin gas massacre. In 2014, he came to the United States on a speaking tour.