A student, Football Player and Dreamer
He was so confident and determined when we talked about football and that he can do perfect if he had the chance to prove himself — Asya Durmaz
His Story:
I studied Sociology at the University but I couldn’t make it to the 3th year there and my family could not continue support me financially due to the situation and the circumstances in my city. I left Damascus and went back to stay with my family in Deirezzor. I stayed 1 year with them and I took the submitting national exam again to go to the university once more. I passed the exam and registered in the Faculty of Educational studies in Deirezzor. I was studying and working at the same time there. I studied there for 2 years until, Deirezzor got besieged in 2014 by ISIS. It became very hard to afford a day’s meal and life became difficult. So I decided to leave to Turkey.
I have been in Turkey for almost 2 years now. I worked to afford my living expenses and to send money to my family inside Syria and tried to learn the Turkish language by communicating with Turks. I worked for 1 year until I got an opportunity to study in Harran University. I applied and got an admission to study Archeology. I am currently in the preparation year. I just took the Turkish language exam and I got the upper-intermediate certification. I will start studying Archeology next year. I hope it will bring better chances for me.
In Syria, I had a dream to be a football player. In Syria I couldn’t follow my dreams because my parents wanted me to study. After I arrived to Turkey I contacted many football clubs here, but was not allowed to play. They all told me that I have to have Turkish Nationality in order to be able to play in Turkish football clubs. In addition to that, I had to work in order to cover my expenses so I could not dedicate for football.
I met many Turkish friends in the university and here in my workplace some of them are nice and some of them are not friendly. I always try my best to give the good picture of us.
Now I am responsible for 4 members in my family who are living with me now. I am the only bread earner for them. I had to leave football to work to bring a living. I applied to work in many NGOs here in order to earn extra time to study, to have less working hours, but no luck yet.
My message to the Turkish people. Do not judge us just because we are Syrians, have a chance to know us better, give us a chance to tell you about ourselves, our stories. We have talents same way you have, we have dreams and aspirations. We are just like you.
