16 August 2024
Can you tell us your name and one interesting fact about yourself?
Hello! My name is Hama Sharif — I’m a Llanishen High School alumnus from Kurdistan studying Medicine at Cardiff University.
What year did you graduate from Llanishen High School?
I finished my sixth form studies in 2020; however, I unfortunately had no graduation ceremony due to COVID-19.
What subjects did you study or were you particularly interested in while you were with us?
I had the pleasure of studying Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics as my A-Levels. I’ve always been fascinated in maths and attempted to study the Further Maths course on the side, but there only seemed to be so many days in a week and I couldn’t be at two classes at once!
What are you doing now, and can you tell us how you got to this point?
I’m currently towards the end of my studies at the Cardiff University School of Medicine. I have recently passed my major exams and am on my way to becoming a foundation doctor! I decided on studying at Cardiff University after the privilege of attending LHS’s multiple widening-access opportunities including med-school interview preparation, work experience at local hospitals, and opportunities to fundraise/volunteer in healthcare settings.
Did you always know this career was something you wanted to pursue? If not, what other career options were you considering?
I was torn between studying Medicine and Physics. I had great relationships with my A-Level teachers at LHS and they continuously supported my aspirations to work in careers focussed on problem-solving. Other than the opportunities in healthcare I outlined above, I also had many supracurricular experiences from the maths/physics departments such as Olympiads, masterclasses, and nationwide engineering competitions. I ultimately decided to pursue a career in Medicine, but I can say with proud confidence that I still rely on the advice, mantras, and positive attitudes I learned from my maths & physics teachers
Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?
Simple: do the thing. Whatever it is that I wanted to do, I should have done then and there. I’ve found it a lot more common to regret not having started something earlier in life rather than wishing I had waited for later. A trend I find in myself is that for every skill & hobby that I’m developing, I find I would fantasise about months or even years in advance. I wanted to learn Italian a year prior to when I began, and I could be a year more fluent now than I actually am. I wanted to be more active my entire life, but only in the past two years have I gained any traction with exercise. I’m still considering a hobby in electronics — and I have all the equipment waiting for me — so maybe it’s as simple as getting a start as soon as I finish writing this. The only true limit is time, so start early.
What advice would you give to students today thinking about their future?
Look up the word “sonder”. Understand it. Understand that everyone sees the world through their own perspective just as you see through yours. As a species we have developed to live in communities; it’s highly likely that your futures will be intertwined with others’ at every stage. You will face friends, family, peers, superiors, subordinates, opposition, and audience regardless of the path you set down. To be harmonious within such community is to understand what it means to be each and every other figure present.
For example: a mother. It’s easy to look at one’s own mother with a degree of resentment for all the bad they have done and all the good they haven’t. It’s easy to forget that our mothers are living their one and only lives too. To forget that they too were a child with parents and that they too struggled in school. In fact, they’re ahead many of us. They have had to face the challenges of pregnancy, childbirth, and of holding a family together. Imagine doing that yourself. Imagine being a mother and how difficult it must be. To appreciate that people are just people makes living with them so much more manageable. Everyone is living their first life just as we each are, so be more mindful and understanding of that. It will definitely make your future easier.