When I was a little girl, I was ambitious and adventurous. I grew up in a very small town in Iran. I was fascinated by science: by 16 I knew I wanted to be a scientist. However, while growing up everything changed for me. My world was shut down by the Iranian regime, and their religious rules. Female scientists were not taken seriously in Iran and women's rights were compromised. I forged a new dream: becoming a physicist in a free country. It took me 10 years to achieve. Every step was a big challenge. Two years ago, I finally fulfilled my dream. Now I am working on one of the hottest topics in the world: quantum optics.