I am a 23-year-old Lebanese student, I have been studying in Russia for the last 3 years. Mainly I moved to Russia because of the problems that my country suffers from, and I realized that I should leave my native country to find my place in life. So, I moved to Russia, enrolled in a university, learned the Russian language, created a business, and felt that I had a stable life for the first time in my life.
Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war (in the last 5 months), everything changed for me. I have been witnessing eye-soaring things, the economy started to deteriorate, I lost my part-time job, my business sales dropped, chaos is everywhere, and my university started to suffer, some teachers got kicked out because of their political opinions, some teachers decided to leave the university and the country, even students are trying to flee the country because everyone realizes the danger of staying in a university with no teachers to teach! Let alone the fact that I cannot receive money from outside of Russia anymore because all money transaction companies have closed, and if I found some third-party that would be willing to exchange money between Lebanon and Russia, the rate would be so low, adding to the fact the high rate of inflation here, so it means that I lost over 50% of my purchasing power just like that.
I realized that I have to leave my life in this country behind and find a European University to take me in.
I spent nights and nights writing my motivation letter, designing my CV, translating all my documents to English, getting a recommendation letter, researching for suitable universities with good Business programs…
I have been writing universities from all around Europe for a month now, and I was sending them emails explaining my situation, and also sent them my CV and the letters, hoping that they would understand my situation and help me.
Most of their reactions were like that:
- A single sentence saying, “Deadlines are over”.
- You’re not a European resident and we can’t let you apply now; you should wait till next year.
- Sorry, there is nothing we can do.
- You’re not Ukrainian.
- No reply.
After writing over 30 of the best universities in Europe, none was willing to take my case and just let me prove myself. I have a motivation letter that explains everything in detail, an amazing recommendation letter from my teacher, presentation about my job experience in Russia, and Olympiads and certificates.
Most of them did not even read the rest of my email, did not even read my letters, and they did not care for a second to think about the situation I am in!
It is frustrating for me to see that, I did not expect that universities (the place of knowledge) would just ignore me like that, it is like I am not a real person! I took all this effort in writing my emails and letters and there isn’t one university that could make an exception for me to continue my education?!
My academic life has ended just because of bureaucracy (deadlines), and because I am not European or Ukrainian. I do not deserve an education because I was not born in Europe.
I had high hopes of finding a university that would be generous enough to just move the deadline for me so I could save myself and my education. And I am now compelled to go to same place I came from (Lebanon), where I can’t even have a job or education.
I feel that my life is over, and I am frustrated and disappointed by all these institutions that call themselves (EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS), where open-mindedness, tolerance, acceptance, and being simply a human should be taught as a priority.
I know that not all universities are like that, but I just could not find any, and now I feel that my life is wasted, even after all the hard work I did for the last 3 years in Russia.
It looks like life is simply not for everyone, and no matter how hard you work and study, the only thing that can decide your future is a passport or a nationality.
I am trying not to give up, but I am feeling down… I am going back to my country on the 13th of August after 3 years of not returning, I am still not being able to adapt to the fact that my last 3 years were for nothing, the love of my life is on the other side of the world, and I am crying my hearts out everyday after seeing a rejection after a rejection. What is happening is shocking, and I can’t find a reasonable explanation for why this happening to me. I am trying my best to stay away from my suicidal thoughts, but life is just too heavy sometimes that you cannot even think straight.
Submitted July 29, 2022 at 03:58AM by issamaaz https://ift.tt/AP3fXHF
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