From Syria to Scotland: How a Scholarship Helped Sndos Find Her Place at Glasgow
When Sndos arrived in the UK in 2019, she brought with her a clear ambition: to return to education. For six years, that door had been closed.
Her journey began in Syria, before she moved to Egypt as a teenager. There, she had hoped to continue her studies, but this became increasingly difficult. Although her parents were supportive and did everything they could to help, the high costs associated with education in Egypt proved challenging. The wider impact of the war in Syria had significantly changed her family’s circumstances, creating financial pressures that made continuing her education no longer possible at that time.
Reflecting on that period, Sndos says stepping away from education felt like something she had to do due to circumstances at the time, rather than a choice she wanted to make.
Today, Sndos is a third-year Business and Management student at the University of Glasgow. She is a peer career supporter, a student ambassador, a tutor, a mentor, and, as of this year, a scholarship recipient and her story shows exactly what donor generosity can make possible.
Getting to Glasgow was itself a journey. After two years of English language classes and two more years of college studying social sciences, Sndos applied to six universities. She visited two. "When I visited the University of Glasgow, my heart fell for it right away," she says simply. "I just saw myself studying there."
University brought its own challenges: bigger lectures, a different style of learning, and the social isolation that can come with the first semester. But Sndos approached it with the same determined pragmatism that had carried her through years of disrupted education. She gave herself semester one to observe, to settle academically, and then, when she was ready, to build friendships that would last.
It was during the summer after her first year that the scholarship made its most tangible difference. Her student loan had stretched thin, the summer months approaching without guaranteed income, financial uncertainty became a growing concern, and Sndos was still looking for the right role at the university.
The scholarship funding bridged that gap.
With the financial pressure lifted, she was free to invest time in exploring resources, completing courses, and building the skills that would eventually land her a role as a Peer Career Supporter. "It all worked out for the best," she reflects. "That was how the loan helped me."
The following summer, a scholarship-supported place at a digital marketing summer school in Milan took her further still - her first time travelling abroad alone, and her first intensive study experience outside Scotland. It was challenging in ways she hadn’t fully anticipated, but she doesn’t regret it. “Experiencing that, as freeing, transformative, and painful as it was, was extremely relieving in the long run,” she says. “Now I know what it’s like.”
Now in her third year, Sndos is giving back - mentoring a first-year student through the University’s Talent Scholar programme and helping others navigate a transition she knows well.
To anyone considering supporting the scholarship programme, her message is clear: "Please do it. It does make a difference. It helps students to survive - and then to thrive. Because the reason you come to university is to thrive and fulfil your potential."
Thanks to donors who believe in that potential, Sndos is doing exactly that.