Primrose Kitten
Hamz is 19 and studying medicine at Cardiff University. He has A-Levels in Chemistry (A*), Biology (A), Maths (A*), and Urdu (A).
Principally, picking a university course is narrowing down the path towards what you want to do for the rest of your life and what you’ve dreamed of since childhood.
Like all children, I have always been inquisitive. Looking up at the sky, or observing the environment around me, I have always wondered about the correct order of things and how it all works. This drive to learn more and understand complexity has always been a part of me. However, the more I learnt, the more I realised how little I know, thus increasing my determination to learn and pick a course where learning never ends.
Growing up and witnessing people suffering and struggling around me, a part of me always wanted to help them, but I felt powerless. At the same time, watching my dad relieve the suffering of his patients and being available for people to save lives at all costs was inspiring. Looking at my dad gave me a vague abstraction about how my career choice can be beneficial for me, as well as a source to help the unfortunate and sick people around me.
What turned my vague abstraction into a much more clear and definite choice was an incident when I went to meet my grandparents in Pakistan during A-Levels. The detailed memory of the life-changing day is engraved in my brain. That day, I accompanied my grandmother for her routine check-up from her family doctor. Having been born and brought up in a developed country like the UK, I had never imagined how difficult life—or to be precise, healthcare—could be in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan. During my visit to my grandmother’s family doctor, I got a chance to witness the conditions of the unprivileged people who had been waiting in the queues to see a doctor. When I enquired about it to the doctor, he explained that because of lack of resources and a low number of doctors, these people fail to receive proper medical help. This experience made me more adamant than ever to be capable enough and help these people.
After analysing and scrutinizing my interests and goals at an individual level, I decided that medicine is the perfect career for me. It quenches my thirst to keep learning and understanding the unknown along with using this knowledge in helping those less fortunate.
