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My name is Officer Cadet Midya Masti. I'm honoured to be the first female from Kurdistan to graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I am a doctor at a military hospital back home in Kurdistan with a civil rank, but when I go back from here, I will be in the military.

Originally, I was in the running for the regular course. I actually went through a number of interviews before I got selected and it was narrowed down to two people, me and another girl. The team from Sandhurst liked me and offered me the commissioning course instead and I was very interested in it. When I told my family, it was Sandhurst they just said, ‘you have to go’.

I got a lot of briefings on how the commissioning course was going to be. They told me it was going to be all doctors, lawyers and padres, so I thought it was going to be very simple, but it wasn’t. To be honest the first two week were very challenging, especially the exercises, the sleeping in the cold and not being allowed to use lights. I would never ever have thought I could finish a course like that.

Perhaps had they told me all this at the beginning, I might not have come, but then I wouldn’t be the person I am today – to be honest, I’m very proud. It was such an amazing experience; I’m honoured to graduate from here. I hope after this, more Iraqi, Iraqi Kurdish females could join and experience this amazing opportunity.

My best memories will be the amazing people I met and the fact I graduated from here because all the royalties have been to this academy, so I am honoured to graduate from a place like this.

Officer Cadet Midya Masti