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No one leaves home by choice. Why would someone who has grown up in Syria leave their home for a place they'd never been to? They're leaving behind their language, their culture, their history, their house, their routine, their loved ones. You've got 4.5 million refugees, about 8 million internally displaced people, over 1 million people injured, a quarter of a million killed, 3,000 schools destroyed, 3 million children out of school. These people aren't coming here because they want to; they're coming because they can't go home.For the last month I've been travelling around universities and meeting a lot of people. I decided I wanted to study an MA in Developmental Post-Conflict Resolution so that once this is all over I can go back to Syria and Iraq and help refugees. As an English student in Aleppo I'd always wanted to come to the UK to study my masters and PhD. I never imagined I'd be coming as a refugee in the back of a truck, but sometimes things don't turn out as you expect them to. To me, it's important to treat everything as an opportunity. When I realized I had to leave my family and my home in Syria, I decided I was going to go to the UK so I didn't have to lose time learning a new language and a new culture.When I meet new people, sometimes they're surprised at how quickly I'm getting on with my life. I was only granted asylum a month ago and I'm already applying for a masters? It's like they think I should be mourning or worrying or keeping to myself. To them, I always say the same thing: I had a choice – I could either be dark and sad and push myself further and further down, or I could look on the fact that I'm alive as a blessing and use it to push me forward. I decided to choose the latter.*'Kurdo' asked that his name be changed to protect his family.Follow Joe Goodman on Twitter.READ ON MOTHERBOARD: This Is the High Tech Fence Bulgaria and Hungary Want to Keep Out Refugees