"In Germany, I dared to make a new start".

"Starting over in a foreign country and continuing your studies there is a big challenge. You have to learn the language and find your way around a different university system, make contacts and finance your own living expenses. A scholarship from the HessenFonds - a program of the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts - was a great support. It helped me to concentrate on my studies for a year. At the University of Kassel, a total of 46 highly qualified students and doctoral candidates eligible for asylum were supported with a monthly grant last year.

I came to Germany four years ago because I saw no prospects in my home country of Syria, despite a good bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. In Germany, I ventured a new start - also because my five brothers also live here. The biggest hurdle was, of course, the language. But thanks to several courses and a lot of contact with Germans, I learned very quickly, so that I was able to continue my mechanical engineering studies at the University of Kassel in 2017. My academic achievements from Syria were largely recognized. I only had to catch up on some topics - thermodynamics, for example - because they are not on the curriculum in Syria.

I applied for the Hessenfonds scholarship because it offered a good opportunity to make rapid progress in my studies. When I applied, not only was my previous academic performance assessed, but my volunteer work for the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund also had a positive effect. Doing something for others is a matter of course for me. In Frielendorf, for example, where my first stop in Germany was, I am still active in the "mitMenschen" working group to accompany other refugees on their way.   

Today, I work alongside my studies at the Fraunhofer Institute in Kassel, where I will also write my master's thesis in the field of automation and system dynamics. I don't know yet whether I will do a doctorate after my master's degree or go straight into professional life. What is certain, however, is that I want to stay in Germany and shape my professional and private future here."