Becoming a pharmacist is my dream. When I was a child my mother dream was to continue her education, but she couldn’t because she had to take care of us. Therefore, I always dreamed to continue my education. I’m originally from Syria. I came to the United States because of war in my country. When I first arrived to USA I started taking small steps towards my dream. I started taking English classes. Then, I started taking classes at Seminole State College to get my AA Degree, and then my B.S. degree. At the same time, I was pleased to become a mother of two amazing children. Becoming a mother has inspired me more to complete my education, so I can support my family and also be a good example for my kids. Therefore, I tried to mange taking care of my kids while completing my AA and my bachelors degrees through taking online courses, and being half-time student instead of full-time student. It’s true that it took me long time to complete my degrees, but I’m still grateful because I was able to take care of my kids at the same time of continuing my education. After I completed my bachelor degree in Health Science, both of my kids became an elementary school student, so I had more free time. Therefore, I applied to the pharmacy program at the University of Florida college of pharmacy, and I got accepted. Currently, I’m able to manage my both roles as a mother and student by managing my time. I complete most of my study while they are at school or at night after they sleep. Another factor helped me is that most of my pharmacy program lectures are online. This gave me more flexibility to manage my time and be at home more. However, being a student and a mother at the time won’t give me a chance to get a job. Therefore being able to afford my education is one of the major obstacles I face, especially because I’m not eligible to receive FAFSA because of my immigration status. During my undergrad my college had a foundation scholarship program. This program helped me fund most of my classes expenses. Without the help of scholarships I would not be able to complete my degree or to apply for the pharmacy school. Currently, I’m still financially struggling. I’m on private loan which has very high interest rate. Therefore my funds is very limited. Also, as a mother financial obstacle becomes more difficult, as my kids have a lot of needs. Therefore, besides managing my roles as a mother and student, I also need to manage my finances between my education and my kids needs. Therefore, this scholarship provides a great support for my education.

I’m an immigrant who came to US because of the war in my country. Because of my immigration status, I’m not eligible to get FAFSA, therefore I know how challenging it’s to try covering high education expenses. After, 8 years of studying and working hard, I was finally accepted into the pharmacy program, but I’m still struggling to cover the tuition expenses. Therefore, as a future pharmacist, I’m planning to provide help to future pharmacy through donations to scholarships programs, help them with recommendations and learning.