Aya Adnan stands tall in a recent photograph, a dimple in her chin and her hijab falling back over her shoulders, alongside three of her former classmates. Three years prior, she had been eagerly anticipating university life with dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon. She had always been a dedicated student who arrived early for extra physics lessons and worked tirelessly through difficult material. Her interest in the field had deepened during the 11th grade when severe headaches and dizziness led to a diagnosis involving pressure on her spinal cord, reinforcing her resolve to study neurology.
When her final secondary school results arrived, she scored 96 percent. However, medical school tuition was expensive, and her family could not comfortably afford the fees. She turned to her older brother Yasser, a lawyer 17 years her senior who ran his own practice, supported their parents, and was a father of three. Yasser regularly assisted his family and had taken Aya to the Islamic University of Gaza in August 2023 to explore affordable courses. When medicine proved financially out of reach, they looked at health sciences, and Aya ultimately settled on medical laboratory sciences. Yasser bought her books and supplies, offering encouraging words about the paths life takes before they had lunch together.
University had barely completed its first week when the war began. A strike on a neighboring house badly damaged their family home of more than 35 years in Nuseirat, forcing them to relocate to an aunt's house. Aya's daily routine shifted from laboratories and lectures to finding water, preparing food, and learning to cook without modern conveniences. Yasser frequently returned to the damaged family house to check on belongings, and on one occasion, he asked Aya to accompany him to help clean up. She declined because she was busy helping their mother.
On December 12, as the family gathered for afternoon prayers, a missile strike hit the area. A friend called shortly afterward to ask about Yasser, who had gone back to their damaged home alone. The strike had killed him at the age of 32, making his request for Aya to join him their final conversation. About a week later, Aya returned to the house and found the plastic shopping bags containing the university supplies Yasser had purchased for her. While some books and notes were burned or damaged, she gathered the survivors, including pens and colored pencils.
After 18 months, when universities began offering remote instruction, Aya logged on whenever electricity and internet availability permitted. Studying a heavily practical major like medical laboratory sciences without equipment or laboratories presented immense challenges, but she persisted, mirroring the quiet resilience of another girl from the photograph who had once envisioned herself wearing a doctor's white coat.