I was born and raised in Egypt in a Coptic Orthodox family. In 2011, I lived through the Arab Spring. While there was initial optimism, quickly things fell apart. In the wake of the revolution, I moved to the US to live with my brother. I had completed pharmacy school in Egypt and started working in the US, but it had always been my dream to be a surgeon. In the Summer of 2020, completely alone and in the midst of a global pandemic, I moved to the Twin Cities to begin medical school.

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The first year of medical school was challenging, isolating. But one day, I was invited to an in-person outdoor bonfire at Anselm House. I didn’t even know what Anselm House was, I just was excited to go somewhere in-person. I signed up immediately for the Fellows program.

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Fellows has become my primary Christian community on campus. I’ve found not only friendship, but a community where I can think deeply about my vocation. And God has used Anselm House to do some surgery on my own heart, to help me fix my gaze on the heavenly city, amidst the selfish ambition so common in University life.

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Like St. Augustine, I’ve come to experience more deeply that “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” I have a heart and a calling to medicine, but even if I become the best pediatric heart surgeon in the world, this achievement will not satisfy. Only God can satisfy.