How it started: I was forced to leave my family behind in Lebanon when I was 17 years old due to the far reaching effects of war. I arrive in the UK and my first job is working in a van selling burgers & kebabs for a living. Customers ask me if I can speak English. The following year I enrol into a sixth form and work full time hours stacking shelves in a food store to survive. The Head of the Sixth Form asks what I want to do with my life. I say it was always my dream to become a doctor. She laughs in my face & says I’ll never get into medical school, it’s too competitive & to choose another course. She made me feel like I was some ‘dirty little immigrant with delusions of grandeur.’ How it’s going: I am a doctor, consultant psychiatrist, honorary visiting professor & author & I just saw copies of my memoir in my local bookstore. NEVER stop believing in yourself and NEVER stop dreaming. ‘Breakthrough. A Story of Hope Resilience and Mental Health Recovery’ is available to order: amazon.co.uk/Breakthrough-Re…