Graduation Tales: Syrian student Ammar achieves Masters success

For most people, completing a Masters degree is a major challenge. For Ammar Alhalaki, however, it has been achieved while living in a new country, being separated from his wife, all while coping with the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

From Syria, 28-year-old Ammar has this month been awarded a distinction in his Structural Engineering MSc from the University of South Wales (USW), a qualification he has been able to achieve after last year being awarded one of USW’s two annual Asylum Seeker Scholarships, which cover the cost of the Masters, as well as £1,000 in course-related costs such as a laptop or books.

Ammar’s educational journey to his USW qualification started 10 years ago when he began an engineering degree at university in Damascus, where he continued living after his graduation in 2016.

After completing his degree, he worked for three years, but was then called up for military service. In the same year that Ammar started university – 2011 – civil war broke out in Syria, when an uprising against the president turned into a full-scale conflict that has continued for the intervening decade. Not wanting to be involved in the fighting, Ammar decided to seek asylum  – which he has just been granted - in the UK in 2019.

Having made his way to the UK, Ammar was aiming to settle into his new life, but just a short time after arriving the Covid-19 pandemic emerged.

“I arrived in the UK in 2019 and just a few months later the pandemic rocked the world,” Ammar said.

“I was stuck in my house and had no contacts, no relationships in the UK. I had to live like that for six months without going out or doing anything that could be of benefit to me or the new society I was living in.”

Ammar’s life changed again when he found himself talking to Senior lecturer Dr Mike Chick - who in 2019 became USW’s first Refugee Champion as the institution became Wales’ second University of Sanctuary.

“In the meeting in the summer of 2020 Mike mentioned the Asylum Seeker Scholarships. I decided to apply and was given the very welcome support from USW,” Ammar said.

Now the holder of a Masters degree, Ammar is looking forward to a new life with his wife Noor by his side.

“I am working to get her to the UK, but I’m not sure how long that is going to take,” he said.

“As for the future, I don’t know if I’m going to go into work or do a PhD in my subject. Having just been granted asylum, I’m managing a lot of paperwork, so will decide after that. I really like it here in Wales, so we will see what happens next.”

More details of the Asylum Seeker Bursary can be found at USW Asylum Seeker Bursary* | University of South Wales