Do not give up, do not be afraid of the unknown
Sometimes there are higher callings that helps one in this life, but most of the time things we call luck are made by us. This is what you have done, you are not lucky you work hard to get what you want. — Ferdi Ferhat Özsoy
His Story:
I am just a normal young guy from Homs. My life was more like “you have to learn and take a degree so you can work and strive, to get your own money”. It was like this; either you study and have a diploma, or you just don’t and end up like any normal worker who hates his life and hates his wife and kids. I did not think that I am the study type guy, I like to work more. My father is a chemistry graduate, yet he never worked in his field. He has his own tailoring workshop. I was working with him aside from my studies, and I was expecting to do this job in the future with my father. That was my ambition until everything started to change.
I failed in my high school exam, because they took my father 2 days before the exam and I lacked the willingness to study. I submitted for the high school exam the next year. I passed it and was able to get a seat in the associate civil engineering institute. I finished my first year when I got a scholarship in Jordan to study IT. I decided to go and so I did. It took me 2 days to get there because of the military checkpoints. I had some trouble because they wouldn’t let me cross the borders even though all necessary papers from the university in Amman was with me. They let only 2 out of 35 people in the bus cross. They 33 people left including me were thrown out of the bus and it wouldn’t take us back because it had to continue to Jordan. There was a nearby mosque and there were around 40 families just like me who do not know what to do; Can’t go back nor cross to Jordan. We were just stuck. Then I decided to go to Damascus since I had relatives there. I stayed for couple of days there and I gave up on Jordan then went back to Homs to continue my second year of studies in the institute.
After I got back to Homs, we were displaced from our neighbourhood and moving from a place to another. We even stayed in my father’s workshop for 2 weeks until we could find a proper place to rent. I could make it and almost finished my second year at university. It was my only choice to continue studying since I had lost almost everything.
After the latest displacement we had I decided to leave Homs. My brother, my cousin and I decided to come to Turkey after the random arrests of youth in Homs. We came to Turkey through Lebanon since travelling from Syria to Turkey was not available. We had a lot of problems in the airport. The airport employees had lost my cousin’s Passport and they found it 5 minutes before the airplane took off. Fortunately, we made it.
After coming to Gaziantep, we started learning Turkish in a religious boarding school where we had to clean, cook and study, and we were allowed to get out only once every 15 days. We spent 8 month in that school and after that, we decided we will rent a house.
After we settled, I started volunteering in some organization. I worked from 9:00 AM till 9:00 PM totally for free. I was a children supervisor and an English teacher. I always liked teaching; I was doing this repeatedly for my colleagues at the university. Volunteering did not offer any money though it has opened a lot of opportunities for me to attend many courses like TOEFL, Photoshop and Project Cycle management and others, all for free, and it was a good experience.
I also helped students register in Turkish universities going through all the necessary procedures since I am experienced in doing it because I have been through it when I registered myself.
I couldn’t get my university document from Syria because they refused to give them to me. But still, the idea of continuing my studies did not leave my mind. I applied to Muğla University and got the acceptance to go. When I arrived in Muğla, I only had 500 TL, which was all I had. Since I knew a lot about the major I was going to study, I believed that it will be easy for me to finish and get the diploma. I stayed in Muğla for 6 months; it was a religious boarding school again. I couldn’t bear staying there because they put a lot of restrictions on me; I couldn’t even play any game on my cell phone.
In Muğla, Turkish guys were amazing. They helped me a lot. Also, the Turkish employees down there were nice. When I went to Students Affairs in Muğla University and told them that I cannot continue because I don’t have a place to stay anymore to study in Muğla, they referred me to a student house where student who don’t have a house to stay in. I was only to pay 50 lira for utilities It was the first time to I had Turkish friends in the student house. When a cousin of mine, who lived in France, knew that I was studying, he decided to fund me by sending a fixed salary to me while studying. It all happened like magic!
My personality has changed in Muğla. I used to be a very sociable guy. But Muğla has increased the sense of loneliness inside me since I was away from my cousin and brother that I used to live with in Gaziantep. I loved Muğla and its people, but I didn’t get along with the Syrians there. I had everything in Muğla but still I was not happy. I decided to visit Gaziantep.
When I went to Gaziantep, I found out that my 2 cousins went to Germany. My brother was accepted in Gaziantep University to study Turkish and he was working at the same time. While I was in Gaziantep, a friend of mine advised me to apply for the Turkish Scholarship to study in the Turkish Universities. I did not want to change my university, but I thought it wouldn’t do any harm if I applied. I did not expect to get accepted, but 1 week later when I was preparing to go back to Muğla, I got accepted in a Bachelor degree program in Business Administration & Marketing. It was the major I really liked. I went to Muğla to bring my important university documents and came to Gaziantep to be enrolled in the scholarship program.
I wanted to work alongside my studies, so I applied to a hundred opportunities and I got none of them. Until, one day, my friend told me that the organization he works for needed an employee and I can apply. I applied and got it! I couldn’t believe it, and when I asked the manager why he accepted me, it turned out that the organization aims to empower the youth and support them.
I really feel like I’m very happy with my life now.
My message to the people reading this would be: Do not give up, do not be afraid of the unknown.
