Iraq Refugee to PharmD
How My Past Helps Me Connect to Patients By Inas Mahdi
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In my time
living in the United States, I have learned two things: opportunities are endless, and there is a holiday where people dress up and show up to your house demanding candy. On that particular holiday, the costume I chose to wear embodied bravery and breaking generational trauma. I come from the land of two rivers, rich with culture and thoughtful people, Iraq. Of course, that is not the image that pops in anyone's head when they think of Iraq. They think of war and violence. There is some truth to that, which is why at seven years old, I worried less about my favorite doll and more about whether my school will be there the next day and would not be burned to pieces. Actually, it did burn while my classmates and I were in the middle of math class. Thankfully everyone left in time to escape physical harm, but the incident had taken its emotional toll. Parents stopped sending their children to school out of PAGE 15 fear, and even then, the school was in not in good enough condition to attend.
