After graduating from the College of Science, I found myself facing a harsh reality, as there was no opportunity for appointment in Iraq at that time. I remember well that "fever" that swept graduates to teach in Saudi Arabia, and how friends advised me to apply through their embassy. I went there and submitted my papers to be appointed as a high school teacher, in a state of uncertainty, not knowing what my fate would be, especially since my true ambition was appointment as a teaching assistant at my college—an entitlement I expected as a result of my academic excellence.
After a while, I was summoned for an interview with the Saudi university representative. When I entered, he surprised me with his first sentence: "Would you like to become a teaching assistant at the university?" I was shocked by the offer, as I had prepared myself to be a simple teacher perhaps in the farthest corners of the "Empty Quarter," and I answered him with immediate agreement.
But fate accelerated, and I did not go to Saudi Arabia, as the University of Baghdad announced in the newspapers—for the first time in its history—its need for teaching assistants from new graduates. My friend Amer Al-Najjar was among the applicants, and luckily for me, his uncle was the Director of Personnel at the university. Amer invited me to visit his uncle to inquire about the results, and after he welcomed us, he began searching through his papers to surprise us that we had been nominated by the appointment committee! This was beyond my expectations given my leftist background, which I knew would bring me the hostility and persecution of the Ba'athists.
Amer insisted that his uncle issue the appointment order immediately, wanting to seize the opportunity because the next day was a holiday. His uncle looked at us as if reassuring himself that the authorities had no objection, and asked us cautiously: "You don't have anything against the revolution, of course?!" And indeed, the order was issued, and I could not believe my eyes, even asking the "Roneo" operator to print a large number of copies of the appointment order due to my intense shock!
We raced against time and reached the college before closing time, where the first obstacles awaited me. I faced a rigid dean who refused to acknowledge my appointment order, using cold bureaucratic excuses claiming the college did not need my services. The truth screaming between the lines was his stance toward my political activity. It was not an administrative position, but an intentional obstacle. I refused to surrender to this exclusionary scene and entered into an argument with him, confronting his obstinacy with arguments and strict insistence on claiming my right. With my continued firm stance without retreat, his administrative pride began to erode, and the categorical refusal turned into gradual retreat, ending with his submission and signing the commencement document—a step that left many in the college in a state of astonishment and amazement.
I began my life as a teaching assistant at the College of Science, but it was a beginning fraught with harassment and discrimination. I faced continuous rejection of my scholarship requests for several years, despite being at the top of the list of candidates from the scientific committee; the refusal always came from the official in charge of student affairs at the Revolutionary Command Council.
