I had just begun my third year studying English translation at university when the war started. The onslaught turned my life upside down – it erased colours, shattered dreams, and broke my spirit. University education – the centre of my life and ambition – stopped. Gaza itself came to a standstill amid unprecedented destruction.

Like all families in Gaza, my family and I have suffered greatly during this war. Two years of genocide robbed us of our health and sense of stability. We were forced to flee 10 times, moving from northern Gaza to Khan Younis in the south, then to Rafah, then to Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. After more than a year, we returned to Gaza City, only to be displaced again to Khan Younis eight months after our return. Our home was badly damaged; we are now forced to live in it, with tarpaulins instead of walls.

In the summer of 2024, universities reopened but only for online learning. I registered, not because I still believed I could achieve my dream of being a teaching assistant, but because I wanted to finish what I had started.

I completed my third year – the year that was supposed to shape me as a future lecturer – from inside a tent, using unstable internet.

In February,........

© Al Jazeera