Muayad Aal-Jelo
My experience
My name is Muayad Aal-Jelo and I come from Iraq. It was my dream to study medicine, especially as my ideal is to help people. Today I am living my dream as a trainee general surgeon and visceral surgeon, and I have had the privilege of alleviating the pain of many patients. I owe this in large part to “my” foundation, the Dr. Gerda von Mach Memorial Foundation.
After graduating from secondary school in 2007, I travelled to Syria to learn German. It was my first contact with this rather challenging language... A year later, after I had mastered the language to some extent, I applied to study at university. One obstacle now stood in my way: I had to attend the “Studienkolleg” intensive language training. I think most of you know that feeling when you have to talk about physics, chemistry or biology in German for the first time.... not nice. A year came to an end in no time, and so I was faced with the biggest challenge, or so I thought: sending my application to various universities.
A year came to an end in no time, and so I was faced with the biggest challenge, or so I thought: sending my application to various universities. In 2010 I attended my first lecture in medicine at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. Finally my dream was coming true! In addition to the financial support I received from my family, I had to work to make ends meet. It was exhausting: I sometimes had to choose between lectures and work.
In 2014 I was able to pass on my acquired knowledge as a physiology tutor at the Anatomy Institute under the supervision of Dr. Barbian. This experience was inspiring and challenging at the same time, as I also wanted to do justice to my studies and to other social activities as a residence tutor. As a physiology tutor, I was able to learn a lot about myself. The tutoring program allowed me to learn how to manage my time and energy and find a healthy balance between progressing in my studies and supporting my students in their exams. And when things got tricky, Dr. Barbian always had good advice – an invaluable help.
In 2015, I was accepted into the circle of scholarship holders of the Dr. Gerda von Mach Memorial Foundation. Here I came to know many people who had taken the same path. We were and continue to be like one big family. In addition to the significant financial support, I experienced family support and a feeling of security. I am forever grateful to the foundation for that.
Aal-Jelo