Seven years ago, Hall was a frightened, confused and miserable 13-year-old plucked by federal authorities from a life of slavery and squalor in the unlikeliest of places: Irvine, California.

Sold by her parents when she was 11, the Egyptian-born Hall spent nearly two years living on a bare, dirty mattress in a windowless garage on a tree-lined street of opulent, Mediterranean-style homes. There, under the noses of her neighbors on Pacific Grove in Northpark, Shyima worked 20-hour days as a domestic servant to an Egyptian couple and their five children.

She was denied schooling and trips to the doctor and dentist. She was not allowed to sit down to meals with the family. She was forced to wash her own clothes by hand in a bucket. The family called her “stupid girl,” and worse, instead of using her name. Now, Hall is a busy and ambitious college student who might use her difficult past as motivation to become someone special.

Read the rest of her story here.