"My studies are a victory over everything I've experienced!"

At some point, in another life, Ali Al Hamad studied agricultural engineering in the food biotechnology department. He was unable to complete his studies. The civil war in Syria, which has been going on since 2011, got in the way. Ali AL Hamad was twenty-five when he fled to Europe from his home in Darʿā, a city around 60 kilometers from Damascus. The Al in Ali's surname is like a "von" in German; Ali von Hamad, so to speak, he explains to me. Today he is 34, he has just arrived from Dresden and still has a few things to do in Zittau, shortly before completing his Master's degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. He also studied his Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biotechnology in Zittau. He is older than most of the other students. "But I don't compare my degree with others," says Ali Al Hamad. "My degree is a victory over everything I've experienced, a victory for myself. I am very proud of myself."

Before Ali Al Hamad flees his home country, he is faced with two options: either he tries to get to Europe somehow, to regain hope of a meaningful life, or he dies on the way. There was a guardian angel at his side all those long weeks on the run. He was lucky, he says today. When the engine on the rubber dinghy broke down, somewhere on the open sea between Istanbul and Greece. On the second attempt, the 40 or so people on board make it to - yes, where actually - Ali Al Hamad sometimes doesn't know himself, sure, the rough direction; Europe, but was it Lesbos, Budapest, was it Vienna, or Serbia? He makes it to Dresden. And that is the most important thing.

Ali Al Hamad has come a long way, in both senses of the word. After fleeing to Germany, it takes another three years before he can apply to universities and colleges and start studying. He applies for asylum, lives in Dresden and is able to keep his head above water thanks to his family and savings. He learns German up to level A2 with YouTube. With language level B2, he starts applying for jobs and both Dresden and Zittau want him. He immediately likes Zittau. " Nice and quiet," says Ali Al Hamad. "I was really touched by the friendliness here." He passes the DSH language test, which checks whether his German language skills are sufficient to study in German at a university in Germany. His language skills must correspond to level C1. Then he sits in the first lectures in Zittau in 2018 and understands nothing, not a word. Doesn't understand the dialect. Writes poor grades. The whole first two semesters. "Does he even speak German, I asked myself," says Ali Al Hamad and laughs. "But of course, I've always learned German for foreigners, people made an effort to make sure we understood them." But Ali Al Hamad gets inventive: "I asked a few professors to let me record the lectures. Then I sat down at home and worked through the lectures at my own pace."

Since then, Ali Al Hamad has greatly improved his grades, successfully completed his Bachelor's degree and is now about to write his Master's thesis.

In his master's thesis, he is working on lung cells and air pollution. "You discover your interests along the way," he says. "Immune cells, bacteria, viruses and fungi are interesting, I think." He is doing his Master's degree in collaboration with Dresden University Hospital and has also moved back to Dresden in the process, into a shared room. Ali Al Hamad wants to go even further: to a Ph.

"My region, my home, is called the 'vegetable basket', there is a lot of nature, similar to here in Zittau, and I like that so much." Nevertheless, there is always this vague fear that this good life could be taken away from him again. He has experienced too much, seen too much. Ali Al Hamad has written a book about his escape, handwritten and bound with thick adhesive tape. "Maybe for my children," he says. "If they want to read it." Of course, he doesn't yet know which direction he will take with his doctoral thesis. It almost doesn't matter to him: "The main thing is something to do with the immune system," he laughs.

Text: Sophie Herwig