As a doctor, I hoped to leave Gaza to improve my qualifications, but my dream to study abroad was shattered by the genocide. “I can’t keep calm. I’ve been chosen for Chevening.
” It’s a little blue poster that Chevening awardees like to be photographed with. I also followed the trend. After all, I, too, was a Chevening scholarship recipient.
Or almost was. Earlier this year, I was selected for the prestigious Chevening Scholarship given out by the British government. I would have had the opportunity to pursue a one-year master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychiatry at King’s College London, in the autumn.
It would have been a dream come true. But with the Rafah border crossing closed, I was unable to leave. I am trapped in Gaza, enduring the horrors of the genocide.
My dream has been shattered, but hope remains alive. The journey to a dream I graduated from Al-Quds University’s Faculty of Medicine in July 2022 and officially registered as a doctor just two weeks before this genocidal war started. I wanted to study abroad to improve my qualifications, but the Chevening Scholarship was not merely an academic opportunity.
For me, it represented freedom. It would have been allowed me to travel outside Gaza for the first time in my life, to see new places and experience new cultures, to meet new people and build an international network. I wanted to do a graduate degree in Clinical Neuropsychiatry because of the relevance of this field to the reality in my homeland.
M.
