My name is Esterk Ali, I’m 20 years old from Syria, and I’m in my last semester studying Pre Med Biology. MEU was and will always be my best life experience. Studying here helped me grow spiritually and intellectually. The faculty and the students make you feel safe and welcome so you can thrive academically and socially. The diversity of students also helped me come across new cultures and traditions that I was so delighted to know about. All of this was because of the 555 scholarships program, for which I am more than grateful and thankful to have received this opportunity. Being a part of this scholarship helped me excel in my courses and to not worry about my fees since the financial issues were not a worry for me to study. Having to work and study at the same time so that you can pay for university is a big struggle that can make you have no time to socialize and enjoy life outside of the university. Even with the scholarship I had to work sometime in my free time so I could meet my needs, since we should start relying more on ourselves. If it wasn’t for the scholarship, I would have to work a full-time job so I can at least cover some payments with my parents. The salaries for regular jobs in Lebanon are not well paid, so even with a full-time job I wouldn’t be able to pay for the university. However, with the scholarship and with the help of sponsors, I can find more time to study and improve myself academically. I hope that more students can experience the blessing of being benefited from scholarships so they can also do their best to prove themselves and shine in their academic journey.