Moataz is a 28-year old Damascus native, who was forced to leave Syria four years ago while he was in the middle of his business and economics degree. Like so many others, he had no idea whether he would ever be able to finish the studies he had invested so much in, before the war broke out.
After finally arriving in Germany, he discovered Kiron and became part of the Kiron community. And in the end of 2018 he became the first Kiron student to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from a partner university, Berlin International University of Applied Sciences.
“I’m very proud that I persevered and became a student of Kiron.”
Moataz
“I am quite proud of this achievement,” Moataz says. “Especially since it has been a long journey for me personally. My first year at university was in 2009 in Syria, and my final year was this year, 2018. It has taken me almost nine years now for my bachelor’s degree. I know it’s taken a long time, but I also worked along the way, and I gained a lot of knowledge from doing that. I’m very proud that I persevered and became a student of Kiron.”
Finding this perseverance was not always easy, but Moataz credits the community around him for helping him keep going. “There was a point when I wanted to throw away all of the work I had completed in Syria and Kiron and study something else. To come to a university and say “hey, I want to continue my studies in the final year” was not an easy thing to do.”
“Now I am more confident that I can do whatever I want with hard work and smart work.”
Moataz
But thanks to the support of the community at Kiron Moataz got the encouragement he needed to keep going. Now he is on top of the world. He has taken a role at Kiron, liaising with students who are undertaking a similar student journey that he did. The future holds a lot of potential.
“After this I am even more encouraged to continue my studies even further. Now I am studying a master’s degree in International Marketing and Management at the HWR (The Berlin School of Economics and Law) and I have more plans to continue the major that I love: marketing and business administration. Now I am more confident that I can do whatever I want with hard work and smart work.”
