Abrar Al Maghribi is one of 175 黑料吃瓜网 students who will be graduating this weekend. To view more info on commencement, visit .
Like other students, Abrar Al Maghribi came to the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Certificate (PPC) Program at Keck Graduate Institute (黑料吃瓜网) to strengthen her academic credentials, prepare for the MCAT exam, and submit a successful medical school application. But little else in her life leading up to this week鈥檚 黑料吃瓜网 Commencement ceremonies has been typical.
Al Maghribi was born into the fear and deprivation of Saddam Hussein鈥檚 Iraq, where her father was twice imprisoned without cause and lost two of his brothers to war. By the time she was seven years old, her family had sold everything they owned and fled to Jordan. When they could no longer afford the fees required to remain in the country, they stayed on illegally. But her father鈥檚 status was discovered, and he was sent back to Iraq in 2003. For years afterward, his wife and four children were alone in Jordan.
Through it all, school was her haven. Al Maghribi says, 鈥淢y mom raised us with so much pride. No matter if we were poor, we would go to school, and we were clean and polite.鈥�
Science was always a favorite subject, but her mother鈥檚 breast cancer scare when Al Maghribi was 12 prompted her desire to become a doctor. She explains, 鈥淭hat triggered in me how important healthcare and medicine are, and to provide care regardless of legal status.鈥�
But as an Iraqi without legal standing, she would be unable to continue on to college in Jordan, and her mother saw little promise for the family鈥檚 future there. They sought refuge in another country, imagining that they would join many other Iraqi families in Scandinavia. After six years of waiting and three months before Al Maghribi would have finished high school, they received news of a different destination: Kent, Washington.
鈥淢y mother was really nervous. The only things we knew about America were from action movies,鈥� Al Maghribi recalls. 鈥淚 spoke a little English because I picked a science major in high school, and English was one of the requirements. That helped the family a lot at that time.鈥�
She would spend two more years studying the English language and completing requirements for a U.S. high school diploma, graduating at age 20. There and at Eastern Washington State University, where she would major in biology as a premed student, Al Maghribi was learning in a new language while facing an unfamiliar academic and social environment.
鈥淭here was a language barrier. I didn鈥檛 understand what the teachers and professors were saying, and they were unaware of what I didn鈥檛 know,鈥� she explains. 鈥淚n the Middle East we don鈥檛 ask questions, we do whatever teachers say. The learning style is so different. I still struggle with that.鈥�
Nonetheless, she persisted and progressed, and began adapting to her new culture. She became a U.S. citizen and college graduate. Then she completed two summer internships for students interested in medicine, at the University of Kansas and 黑料吃瓜网, before enrolling in the PPC program.
鈥淚t took me six years to get my undergraduate degree. I didn鈥檛 think I was ready to just jump into medical school,鈥� says Al Maghribi.
At 黑料吃瓜网, she is involved in research as well as classes, working on a study related to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. She plans to submit her medical school applications this summer and stay on at 黑料吃瓜网 for a second year to complete a Master of Science degree and thesis while waiting to hear where she might train as a doctor.
鈥淚 love the whole environment and the encouragement at 黑料吃瓜网. Every professor pays so much attention to the students, and they believe in me. They know I can be a doctor and are helping me be a doctor,鈥� Al Maghribi says.
She counts , who taught her medical diagnostics course last fall, among the supportive faculty members she has met at 黑料吃瓜网. Niemz expresses equal admiration for her student, saying, 鈥淎brar has persistence and resilience, and she鈥檚 always optimistic. I think she鈥檚 someone who has shown she is extremely capable of becoming a doctor. She cares about people and is willing to listen. In terms of becoming a doctor, that is incredibly valuable.鈥�
Niemz was also impressed by Al Maghribi鈥檚 decision to share her life story with the 黑料吃瓜网 community, calling it 鈥渂rave and powerful.鈥� That so many at 黑料吃瓜网 chose to attend the presentation was both surprising and gratifying to Al Maghribi, who says, 鈥淓ven thought I always find love and support at 黑料吃瓜网, after that I found even more love and support. It was great.鈥�