How Satellites Gave me Back My Will to Live | Fatima Tu Zahra | TEDxNamalUniversity

Quick Overview

The speaker, Fatima Tu Zahra, shares her personal story of battling stage one breast cancer while pursuing her passion for space science, emphasizing that finding the will to live came from focusing on her purpose rather than succumbing to the pain and fear associated with her illness and treatment.

Key Points: Fatima Tu Zahra grew up in a family with roots in the Pakistan Air Force, which initially sparked her interest in space science, rockets, and satellites. Despite her passion, she initially pursued electrical engineering due to external expectations, but ultimately switched to space sciences at NUCES (FAST) in Lahore. She failed to secure a fully funded scholarship to the Institute of Space Technology (IST) initially, which caused distress, but she persevered and later succeeded. During her final year project at NUCES, while working on satellite educational models, she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer in June 2021. The diagnosis and subsequent surgery, treatment, and hospital stays were profoundly difficult, causing her to lose her 'spark' and feel directionless. She credits the memory of a young girl in a hospital bed who refused to give up, along with the support from her family and her work with the Spark satellite agency, for giving her back her will to live. She encourages the audience to listen to their inner voice and find joy in what they do, as that purpose is what truly heals.

Context: This is a personal narrative shared at a TEDxNamalUniversity event by Fatima Tu Zahra. She recounts her journey as a young Pakistani woman pursuing space science despite family military background influences and her own personal health crisis: a stage one breast cancer diagnosis while studying at the university level. The talk focuses on how she rediscovered her drive to live by connecting with her ultimate purpose in space exploration, even amidst severe emotional and physical challenges.

Detailed Analysis

Fatima Tu Zahra recounts how growing up near airbases in Pakistan sparked her interest in space science, rockets, and satellites, leading her to pursue this field despite her father's background in the Air Force and initial family pressure towards other fields. She eventually enrolled in NUCES (FAST) in Lahore for electrical engineering but switched to space sciences at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES) in Lahore, which offered a relevant program. A major setback occurred when she initially failed to secure a fully funded scholarship for IST. However, the turning point in her personal life came during her final year project development of satellite educational models, when she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer in June 2021, shortly after her intermediate exams. This diagnosis and subsequent treatment caused deep emotional distress, leading her to feel lost and unable to connect with her purpose. She credits finding her will to live to two things: the example of another patient who refused to give up, and her continued work with the Spark space agency team in Lahore, which involved conducting workshops across five universities. This work provided the purpose that medical treatments could not. She concludes by urging the audience to listen to their inner voice, as finding that alignment between action and inner self is the true source of healing and joy.