u/Adept-Part-6190

For the first time, there will be three university students in my family: my sister, who just graduated from high school, another sister who has only one year left at university, and me, who already had to delay my studies for a year because of the war.

Now I may have to give up university so that my sister can continue hers. And honestly, I’m not even sure whether she will be able to continue either. Everything has become expensive, and our family simply cannot afford to pay for three students.

I never imagined that choosing my future would mean choosing between my education and my sister’s education.

I want to study. I want to build a life of my own. But I also cannot stand by and watch my family struggle while I focus only on myself.

This is what life in Gaza has done to us. We are not only trying to survive the present; we are watching our futures disappear, one decision at a time.

I don't know who will be able to continue next semester. I only know that we should never have been forced to make choices like this.

For the first time, there will be three university students in my family: my sister, who just graduated from high school, another sister who has only one year left at university, and me, who already had to delay my studies for a year because of the war.

Now I may have to give up university so that my sister can continue hers. And honestly, I’m not even sure whether she will be able to continue either. Everything has become expensive, and our family simply cannot afford to pay for three students.

I never imagined that choosing my future would mean choosing between my education and my sister’s education.

I want to study. I want to build a life of my own. But I also cannot stand by and watch my family struggle while I focus only on myself.

This is what life in Gaza has done to us. We are not only trying to survive the present; we are watching our futures disappear, one decision at a time.

I don't know who will be able to continue next semester. I only know that we should never have been forced to make choices like this.

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While positive headlines circulate online, the reality here is completely different. Buildings continue to be bombed, families are still living under constant fear, and people are still being killed.

Tonight, three children were killed in their home. Later, another strike hit a building next to tents where displaced families were sheltering.

It feels as if the world is being led to believe that things are improving, while here the bombing, destruction, and loss continue night after night.

I only hope that my family, and every other family still trapped here, survives another day.

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This is the choice many of us in Gaza feel forced to make.

Either you pursue your future and leave your family behind, or you stay with your family and watch your own future slip away.

I've always wanted to build the life I dreamed of. I wanted to study, grow, and create a future I could be proud of. But every time I try to focus on myself, I step back. I feel guilty. I ask myself: if I focus on my own life, who will stand beside my mother and my siblings?

I know I'm at an age when I should be building my own life, yet instead I feel trapped between responsibility and the future I once imagined. I often wonder if, had we been somewhere else, I would never have had to ask myself these questions.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm not satisfied with the life I'm living. I know writing this won't change anything, but I needed to say what I've been carrying inside.

We are still living under the constant threat of death. At any moment, everything can end.

Before that day comes, I only hope my mother will have a reason to be proud of me. That's all I want.