Juliette

But because he was in Europe, he felt freer to open up to me about his life in Tehran.

See was born in the late 80s, around the time when the Islamic Republic was just a decade old.

He grew up in the outskirts of Tehran.

His mom worked an office job, and his dad was a mechanic.

They would both work long hours.

Soci and his sister spent a lot of time with their grandfather.

It was in the mosque that he heard people chant, death to America.

He said it was a sentiment that he heard in many places.

In school, on TV.

But it wasn't until he got a little bit older that he really started to fixate on those words.

So he wondered why Iran hated the West.

Why some people, including his government, claimed that believing in Islam and being a good Muslim meant being against non-Muslim people.

But to even have these questions was scary to see.

He'd heard stories of people being hanged for not believing in the government's messages.

So he tried to not have them at all.

He already felt like an outsider.

He was picked on and bullied at school.

So to quietly wonder why things were the way they were made him feel even lonelier.

He thought maybe he was even born in the wrong place.

He would often escape into his own world.