Graduates 2024. Vijitsingh Tabitha: “I fell in love with Belarus very much, and I will miss my native Grodno State Medical University!”

This is Vijithsingh Tabitha, a 6^th year student who is graduating this year. This seems like a very sweet and pleasant dream to me now. But it has not been the case always. So let me tell you my small story.

I'm a student from Srilanka whose only dream was to become a doctor inspired by my late grandfather. So surpassing many obstacles when I did land in Belarus to pursue my dream, I was first met with a culture shock.

It was my first time away from my family in an unknown place, with unknown people around me, talking in a language I did not really understand. I was scared, I wanted to run away, I always had my parents around me up until then and now I was here all alone surrounded by fear. But then slowly I learned to adapt.

Our first ever visit after coming to Grodno was to the Deans office. The Dean Alexander Stenko Alexandrovich and Vice Dean Gushchyna Liudmila Nikolevna played and still play a very vital role in whoever I'm today. They made me feel at home, they boosted my confidence when many things were trying to pull me down. Slowly and steadily we started to learn Russian in classes although I'm still not good at it. The teachers were sweet and they actually were speaking in English.

The most important vital part for my survival here in this country was my group mates who were far more than just group mates, they also play a very massive humongous role in whatever I've achieved here in Belarus. They celebrate my success as theirs and lend their shoulders in failures. Belarus taught me how strong friendships can be. "Group 14 is always the best as we say".

What I learnt from my six years of life in Belarus is that problems and obstacles aren't constant but they are just a means of preparing you for a better situation to make you a better person. My advice for my juniors is to always be confident in whatever you do. Never think what others would think of you, you do you and you be you. The only person who can make or break you is you and no one else. Hard work never fails; it'll definitely bring you fruit one day – and that last thought I can confirm myself since I was awarded a prize by Belarusian Fund of Peace, as well as I hope to obtain Honored Diploma.

Today this moment when I'm penning this paper down I absolutely love Belarus, the weather, it's beauty, the food, the peace, the safety, the people and the serenity it emanates. I'm going to miss the time spent in classes greatly: the ward rounds we were not very fond of and the lectures that we always tried to skip.

Grodno is home not because of anything but because of the relationships and memories I made here. I'm going to miss Belarus big time because this is the country that made the feeble weak me into the person I'm today. While I pen the end of my little story I have an unexplainable void in my heart that I'm not able to express. Thank you, Grodno, you were great.