Nasrin arrived in Germany in 2017 at the age of 14 with the ambition of going to university. Now studying civil engineering, the Ezidi student recalls how she continued towards that goal despite discouragement at school and having to find her own way through an unfamiliar higher education system.
Just two years after arriving, she says, she completed Realschule at the top of her year. She later earned her Abitur and began studying the subject she had always wanted to pursue.
Nobody in her family was familiar with the German higher education system, Nasrin explains. She had to find the information she needed and seek out opportunities herself.
At school, she says teachers laughed at her when she expressed her wish to attend university. She recalls repeated attempts to steer her towards vocational training with a lower secondary school qualification.
According to Nasrin, applications were prepared without her consent, and she was sent to deliver them. Standing outside the workplace with the documents in her hand, she felt that going inside would mean giving up on her ambition. She threw away the envelope, turned around and decided that she would determine what to do with her own life.
The difficulties continued while she worked towards the Abitur. Nasrin says she was often the only migrant in her class and describes being criticised for small grammatical mistakes, watched suspiciously during examinations and repeatedly discouraged.
She says those doubts became motivation to continue until she completed the qualification.
“My journey was difficult, but it taught me just how much strength we carry within us when we believe in ourselves.”
Her advice to other students follows the same conviction:
“Never let other people’s prejudices define you. Never let someone else decide what your limits are.”
