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Wisconsin Gets Its First Female Muslim Truck Driver

WISCONSIN – Maysa Abu Khdair became the first Muslim woman to get a Commercial Driver’s License in Wisconsin, the US, Wisconsin Muslim Journal reported on August 28.

“I didn’t have the chance to do too much in my life but when I got this chance, I said, ok. I can’t let it go,” Abu Khdair said.

“I always wanted to be a truck driver. It doesn’t have anything to do with money but because I want to achieve my dream.”

Abu Khdair recalled her childhood and early love for trucks.

“My dad used to take me and all my siblings with him every time he’d get a load,” she said.

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“I grew up between those trucks. I love trucks. I told my parents two days ago because I didn’t tell them I started trucking. They were shocked and surprised but my dad was happy because he knows I love trucks. He was proud.”

“I love how it bounces on the road,” Abu Khdair said. “You just feel like you are sitting in a big chair. You feel yourself, oh I’m a queen sitting on this chair. I love trucks. I don’t know how to express my feeling when I drive but I feel confident.”

Her instructor says she impressed him, showing better driving skills than her male counterparts.

“Quite frankly, she’s embarrassed the male students,” Robert Camacho, Instructor for 160 Driving Academy said.

“She can do her back in skills and drives better than most of them.”

Abu Khdair has been living in the US for 14 years and is currently completing her final year of study at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) where she will earn a business degree.

According to TMJ4 News, Abu Khdair is a single mother of three children and works as a makeup artist, and has a daycare license to boot.

According to 2014 estimates, Muslims represented between 1% and 0.5% of the total population of the state of Wisconsin.

The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Wisconsin was 5,771,337 in 2015.