Outstanding Young Man from Gaza Wins Leicester Business School Prize
Mohammed Al Surafa, 23, lives in Gaza city and holds a degree in accounting and finance from the Islamic University in Gaza. Mohammed tells the story of prominent and outstanding success.
In 2012, Mohammed was awarded the Al Fakhoora Dynamic Future’s International Masters Scholarship to study accounting at De Montfort University in the UK. In fact Mohammed is the youngest student to be chosen for the scholarship so far. Mohammed’s academic records were the best of the best and he was very impressive to the interviewing panel that believed in his great potential for success.
In high school, Mohammed scored a cumulative mark of 96.3%, in university he managed a 95.09% over four years, earning the title of top student in his college with an unprecedented mark. In addition to his success in his field of studies, Mohammed developed an outstanding proficiency in English, earning a seven on his IELTS exam. Mohammed commented on his success “I have always been driven to study hard in order to have a professional career, and I am dreaming to be a university professor one day.”
“I was so privileged to get accepted into the Al Fakhoora scholarship program. I joined De Montfort University, which is considered among the best that offer a masters in accounting, ranking 11th in the UK. When I went, I was so determined to make a record in the UK, which is a real challenge in the international community.” Mohammed stated.
Mohammed left Gaza in December 2012 to start what he described as a “Challenging journey”. In the UK, Mohammed was carving his path; and earned a remarkable achievement. “Students were from such diverse backgrounds, it looked hard at first, the education was very different relying more on academic research for evaluation, rather than exams. I was spending long periods of time in the library – academic research was among the best things I studied in the UK, as we never learned how to conduct research in Gaza – In fact the library itself was so enjoyable, easy to access a treasure of information, resources and equipment.” Mohammed achieved an outstanding mark in his thesis and was awarded the “Leicester Business School Prize” for Best Dissertation for his MSc in accounting and finance.
Activity wise, Mohammed was selected as a course representative in the Student’s Union as well as he being chosen to participate in student conferences, gathering students from around the UK in Stock city.
