Personal Narrative: Living In Iraq

The sounds of the helicopters hovering above persisted as we lay in bed trying to sleep on the top floor of a very old monastery in northern Iraq. Some would find it traumatizing but I call it my childhood. Growing up in a war torn country really impacted my life and how I viewed the world. Years of oppression, no one was allowed to voice their opinion, that was the country I grew up in. A childhood is something someone grows cherishing, thinking this is how he or she would want his or her future children to be raised. This fact is not true in my life, growing up in Baghdad really made me learn to mature at a very young age. With project Desert Storm embarking and the war was just in our backyard it was hard not to see the pain that our family and friends were going

Many every day essentials such as water and food were scarce because of the economy and the government closing down resources. With all this at hand, being a Catholic added to the fire. Emigrating the country and refuging to yet another developing country (Turkmenistan) posed more challenges until we finally found a home in Jacksonville, FL. Being in Jacksonville was not as easy as it may seem, the new lifestyle changes and the newly found responsibilities I had towards my family were overwhelming at times, especially as a teenager. This all shaped my years in Florida. Though the opportunity that was given to me by my family was that as long as I am in this country I must pursue my education and choose a path that truly makes me who I am. This background of mine gives you a small picture of how I chose the medical profession, why I chose obstetrics and