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Student Profile - Sara
SARA
Sara Taha is a Palestinian refugee, born and raised in Lebanon. Before attending UWC Atlantic in 2019, Sara studied at the UN Relief and Works Agency, a school for Palestinian refugees. It was there that Sara was invited to a talk about UWC and in an instant she knew she was somehow going to be part of the movement. Here Sara talks about the challenges she faced, not only as a refugee, but as someone with a rare genetic disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a condition which makes people extremely sensitive to UV light from the sun often resulting in severe sunburn and increased risk of developing skin cancer.
But despite being a refugee and despite being considered a minority for literally everything, I was never alone. I always had a friend who made me feel special and unique. Today I call it my life’s friend - a very rare genetic disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum or (XP).
Many might think it would be impossible to live with XP in a place like Lebanon, but impossible is not a word in my dictionary. Despite all the challenges, the surgery, pain, and round of appointments I was determined to go to school because I always had hope; I always had that person inside who wanted to have dreams and not just pain.
Over time XP made my life more meaningful. It made me a very strong person, it made me realise that the world would not be unique if we were all the same.. “It is Okay to be different!”
On bright, sunny days (which means most of the year in Lebanon) I had to miss many lessons but would try to get information on the lessons I’d missed from any resource or friend. At times it was difficult, but the high grades were worth it.
Studying and taking exams with an injured eye is not impossible. I was very hard on myself, and I cannot deny that it is still very hard to manage. However, seeing myself managing at the end makes me realise how unbreakable and strong I am.
One day, some of the highest achieving students in my school were invited to a talk about the UWC movement. I began to cry when the presenter told us that our moms wouldn’t be there to wash our clothes. My friend sitting next to me was laughing and said: “You didn’t even apply. Why are you crying??”. But it was at that moment that I felt I was definitely going to make it to UWC. After a number of interviews, I found out that I had received a full scholarship sponsored by the Horizon Foundation to study at UWC Atlantic because the weather was more suitable for my health and the UV is really low. I still can’t describe how I felt, it was a mixture of excitement, happiness, sadness and a bit anxious because I was going to leave my family, friends, home and my other half - my youngest brother with whom I share the same condition. Going to UWC Atlantic meant that it was my first time to go out and face people alone, that for the first time in my life I would be travelling outside of Lebanon, and that I would be without my family and be sleeping outside of my family home. In other words, I would be starting a completely independent journey for the first time in my life.
Undertaking the International Baccalaureate was already very challenging, and on top of that I was still having a lot of issues with my XP. In the end, I managed to persuade my friend XP to understand that whatever problems he causes, I was not going to give up. Even when that meant I had to travel to London from Wales for eye appointments (which was helped by the fact that nurses from the college would travel with me). Even during Covid-19 when I had to isolate and miss a lot of lessons, which left me feeling overwhelmed about being behind my classmates. Even in those instances I never gave up.
Studying with XP at UWC Atlantic was my chance to flourish by being different. I began to raise awareness of the disease among my international friends and among the teachers. I even used the opportunity to write about XP as part of my extended essay in the IB, something which made me extremely proud and happy about doing. It also gave my tutor, teacher and any IB teacher who assisted with my essay a chance to find out more about XP - a story that previously I had never felt brave enough to tell. My experience at UWC Atlantic has inspired me to talk about myself, rather than try to escape, and made me realise how much I want to be the cure for many people.
I’m looking to be a doctor, which I didn’t realise before UWC Atlantic. I had no idea that I was interested in medicine. I always thought that my requests to stay awake during my surgeries to see what was going on was just curiosity.
My next step is to attend Lake Forest College in the US, where I am planning to study Optometry and later become an Eye Doctor. I know really well what it is like to be a patient and suffer. I would never have been here without the support of my family and my friends, and without the Horizon Foundation who sponsored me and gave me this amazing opportunity to study at UWC Atlantic. And I would never have been here without literally everyone who got to know me at the college, who in turn impacted me in one way or another. Finally, I wouldn’t be without XP, my forever education, which taught me so much and still teaches me a lot today.
