June 2024 was meant to be the pinnacle of my academic journey, a moment to celebrate my hard work and begin a new chapter as a teacher.
Of course, this dream has been completely shattered.
On 7 October 2023, the sound of rockets shattered the morning calm. Fearful, I rushed to my sister, Sumaya, asking what was happening. “It seems like a new war is starting,” she said, confirming my fears.
We gathered some essentials and took shelter in the lower floor of our home.
A few days later, my university – the Islamic University of Gaza where I was studying education – was bombed.
I was defiant. This war will not break me. I will graduate. Even if we had to leave our area of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, …..,more