Why Do I Want to Study Medicine?
Before answering this question I would like to write briefly some personal information about myself.
I am the girl who belongs to a family whose only hope is me. I haven’t any brothers. I have three other younger sisters. Actually, in our family it is not a big problem, however generally in Afghanistan it is so difficult for a family to live without having any sons. People believe that it is only boys by whom a family’s name can be kept alive; they think only boys can take an active part in social activities and can feed or take care of their old parents in the future. They think that girls are for housework, bringing up the children and are not to speak of taking an active part in society, and even that they are not capable of feeding their old parents in the future. In fact it is a big calamity for the family which doesn’t have a son. I can regretfully say that some of the women are even punished by their husbands when they give birth to more than two or three daughters.
Still, there haven’t been any girls to show their ability, to show that girls are really able to work shoulder by shoulder with boys and that there is no difference between boys and girls. I mean they haven’t been given a chance to show it to the people who believe so.
In such a crucial situation and environment I am proud of my parents, and especially my father. He thinks beyond others’ wrong beliefs. He never differentiates between boys and girls. I never forget his saying that there is no difference between humans but in their knowledge and education.
He says never to get an education for earning money, but that your aim has to be extending your knowledge. By knowledge and education we can do everything. I am thankful to him that he gives us human value and even has tolerated being away from home for many years in order to earn money and let us learn, as boys have the right to learn.
In order to support my father’s approach and abolish the wrong belief of ignorant people, I have decided to choose a way by which I can prove the girls' ability and their human value, and at least do something that can be a hope for hopeless girls and show that girls are a part of human society.
Our family emigrated to Pakistan when the Taliban were ruling Afghanistan. We had been living there for approximately ten years and I graduated from 12th class in Pakistan. But as for getting further education (entering the university) in Pakistan, there was no chance for Afghan students. To enter the university there was no way except to turn back through Afghanistan to the capital of Kabul. It was and still is very dangerous and therefore people were prohibiting my father from going back to Afghanistan while life is still dangerous only for his daughters’ education. I never forget when they were threatening my father, saying, “let's see what your daughter will become in the future.”
I don’t know whether I have the ability or not, but I will try my best that at least answer those who were telling my father not to leave for a girl’s education.
My best subject is math, and I was interested in studying engineering. When we were in Pakistan I won a scholarship to a program of three months training in primary aid for health, which was established by Japan for Afghan students. After the training we were directly moved to a hospital maternity ward. There I found myself more able than the other 13 girls working in that program.
Working for three months in that hospital really changed my mind and give me a new idea. Because when I was remembering Afghan women, especially those living in villages who never contact a doctor while in delivery, many of them lose their life in childbirth. And many of them face different problems after delivery, remembering the children’s death simply by being injected in the wrong way; remembering the death of patients by non-expert doctors and many other health problems caused me to change my goal. In school I was best at math and enjoyed it the most, but now I have decided that medicine is more important to my people.
This is why I have decided to study medicine and become an expert doctor: to help the needy people of Afghanistan. This is what my people really need. I think that to be a doctor will help me to help the needy people of Afghanistan.
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