Dalia Al Nimr is 19, a junior at the American University in Cairo majoring in mass communications. She is one of thousands of Muslim women embracing Islam and the Koran as their guide to life and taking the veil while still quite young -- younger than their mothers were when they made the same decision. She talked about her religious faith with PNS correspondent Fariba Nawa, a 23-year-old Afghan-American Muslim woman who graduated last year from Hampshire College. Nawa was a founding editor of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people in the San Francisco Bay Area, published by PNS.

CAIRO -- Photos from the 1970s in my family album show my mom and her friends in mini-skirts and shorts. Today, I see many of those women veiled -- on the streets, at the country club and on the subway. Everything has changed -- I don't know why. I think women are becoming more aware of God and Judgment Day.

I do know that I belong in today's Egyptian society which stresses morality and piety. Veiled women are members of parliament, TV anchors and doctors. Women have rights here and we can take advantage of them.

My parents went to Kuwait 20 years ago for better job opportunities -- my father worked as a doctor and my mother a chemistry teacher. I went to an American high school.

In the American school, I discovered who I was and what I wanted to do. I am an Egyptian girl living to serve God. In my academic courses, I learned and cherish critical thinking and freedom of expression, but I found my path in religion class where the Muslim teachers taught Islamic history, morality and practice.

My mother put on the veil when I was in the tenth grade. I wanted to veil in junior high but my parents wanted me to wait until I was married, which is customary in Egyptian society. They feared I would take it off like many others who veil before they're prepared for the drastic shift in lifestyle.

We moved back to Cairo so I could go to college here. My family has always been financially comfortable and I have led a sheltered life, but I make my own decisions. My best friend, my 22-year-old brother, says my mind is reinforced concrete.

My parents are moderately religious. My mother says I'm more extreme, perhaps more puritanical, than they are. But my parent's leniency left me room to apply Islam in life on my own -- in fact, they inadvertently taught me to doubt tradition and question their authority at times.

As a child, I joined my father when he prayed and frequently asked about Islam. When I face difficulties in making decisions, I search the Koran or the Hadith (Prophet Mohammed's sayings) for logical answers. Religion is all-encompassing, life is Islam. I like the idea of a God watching over me. It gives me a sense of freedom.

When I was a freshman in college, my parents finally allowed me to veil. The veil projects an image of purity and decency that appeals to me -- the way others view me in a scarf is irrelevant. I feel safe and protected being covered.

My fiancee Hossam is shy, caring and religious. We met two years ago in the university. We're made for each other -- he calls me his other half. We were together for a year before we decided to marry.

Many assume a veiled girl has an arranged marriage but that concept is strange to me. I know Hossam well but he was never my "boyfriend" -- that implies dating and touching, which I refrain from. We plan to marry after we graduate.

My professors say I'm an excellent student and encourage me to pursue a career. Last summer I was offered a chance to study in a journalism program in the United States for six weeks. I was excited at the prospect of traveling and living in a new place, but Hossam and my parents worried about my being alone.

The issue caused tension. Finally, Hossam gave me an ultimatum: him or the U.S. The trip wasn't worth losing him -- but what really convinced me was that Hossam showed me a passage in the Hadith saying women should not travel alone.

My mother's dream is that I become a professional journalist. But I have different hopes. After I receive my B.A., I will strive to be a good wife. If I have children, I will stay home and raise them. And then, God willing, I hope to earn my Master's degree in Islamic Studies. I haven't told my mother that I will forgo a career to raise my kids. I don't want to disappoint her. She doesn't understand that a career is materialistic.