Mohammed Umar yesterday returned to his alma mater, the Alam Faizad School in central Kabul, for the first time since the ousting of the Taleban to cast his vote in Afghanistan's landmark National Assembly and Provincial Council elections.
'When I was studying here, even in my wildest dreams I hadn't imagined that one day I would come to my school as a free person to cast my vote in an election,' said the unemployed 24-year-old.
Mr Umar had no qualms about revealing his choice of candidate - the 25-year-old basketball player Sabrina Saqeb. Despite accusations by opposition leader Yunus Qanooni that his supporters were not being allowed to vote, the polls appeared free, fair and orderly.
Mr Umar explained his choice of candidate. 'She's young, she has new ideas, and she will help the younger generation,' he said. 'If she gets into the National Assembly, she's someone I can approach and talk to about my problems.'
This first-time voter's immediate need, like so many other Afghans, was to find work. 'Unless you know someone important, you don't get a job, you just keep wandering around,' he said.
But he also has greater expectations from the National Assembly, which was the main reason he disregarded neighbourhood talk that the election was a sham.