Fiona Zeka is looking forward to graduation day at the University of Oxford after being encouraged to apply by friends and family (Picture: Marion Oke/Lesley Lau)
Fiona Zeka once thought Oxford University was a ‘place of myth’, far removed from her life in one of London’s most deprived boroughs.
Growing up as the daughter of Kosovan refugees Fiona, now 20, remembers herself as a ‘shy kid’ who struggled to become fluent in English.
She says her upbringing was far from ‘posh’ but that her parents, who had fled war in their homeland, gave her encouragement money couldn’t buy as she studied A-levels at St Paul’s Way Trust School in Tower Hamlets.
Fiona is now in the third year of an English Language and Literature degree at Oxford and drawing on her family’s experiences as she follows her ambition of supporting displaced people around the world.
‘I knew I loved English, but I didn’t have the self-confidence to imagine myself somewhere like Oxford – it felt so far away,’ she says.
‘When I went to visit it on an open day a few years later, I realised it wasn’t that far after all. About an hour by train.
‘The fear I had of Oxford was centred around the fact that I didn’t know anything about it. It was the stuff of myth, something I thought the clever kid in class perhaps knew about. The way I overcame this fear, and finally gathered up the courage to apply, was through a series of people in my life continuously encouraging me.’
Fiona Zeka has settled into life at Oxford after initially being fearful about the step into the unknown (Picture: Marion Oke @stylebymarion)
Fiona’s parents came to the UK as refugees from Kosovo after the war broke out in 1998. Her dad, Hasan, is a tradesman, and her mum, Fatmire, a celebrated artist. Fatmire held onto her artwork throughout their journey to the UK, at one point hanging her paintings on the outside of her family’s tent at a refugee camp in Bujane, Macedonia.
Fiona grew up in Tower Hamlets, which has ‘widespread’ deprivation and the highest number of children living in income deprived households in England, according to the borough council.
She knew nothing of Oxford through her peer group but was encouraged by her dad to ‘reach further’ with her studies.
Her mum’s stories in particular — at one point she was given a note from a UN official telling her to keep painting — have also been a catalyst.
‘I’ve grown up hearing stories about the journeys that she and other Kosovan refugees took to get to the UK,’ Fiona says.
It will take more than a moody looking cat to put Fiona Zeka out of her stride at the University of Oxford (Picture: Fiona Zeka)
‘Even in the more regulated pathways to refuge, such as through safe haven schemes and in refugee camps set up by the UN, it was not an easy journey by any means, either emotionally or physically.
‘We can do better to make sure that we provide people with the support they need after losing their homes, jobs and livelihoods.’
The star pupil was told she could go far beyond her post-16 expectations in a borough where more than half of residents are classed as deprived.
She landed three A*s and an A* in her Extended Project Qualification to secure an offer from Oxford and a move to Hertford College. The coveted place also makes her the first person in her family to go to university.
Violent unrest has returned to Kosovo where NATO-led Kosovo Force peacekeepers have clashed with ethnic Serbs (Picture: AP)
‘I remember once, in science class, my best friend at the time looking at me and saying that she thought I could do something really great with my life,’ Fiona says. ‘My English teachers always pushed me to imagine a future bigger than the one I allotted myself.
‘And my father always told me that I can really be somebody. He’s always motivated me to reach further with my education, and I feel inspired just thinking about the wonderful life he’s made for himself and his community.
‘I didn’t have the same cultural capital people might associate with Oxbridge students. I didn’t grow up wealthy, and my school wasn’t posh. But money couldn’t have bought me the people I had in my family and community who, together, made me believe in myself.’
Fiona has also received support from the Zero Gravity social mobility tech company. The platform, which helps disadvantaged young people to study at top universities, helped her to navigate the application process, which was especially useful as English is her second language.
The company was started by Joe Seddon, who grew up in a single-parent family and went to state school before attending Oxford, rated as the best university in the world by Times Higher Education.
Fiona remembers herself as a shy child who was encouraged by the people around her to aim high (Picture: Fiona Zeka)
Fiona shows a love of learning that would take her through a stellar run of A-levels and a place at Oxford (Picture: Fiona Zeka)
Fiona, speaking to mark Refugee Week, recalls the big moment when she received the offer to study at her first-choice university.
‘I was in a Zoom class thanks to Covid, and I was refreshing my email every 0.5 seconds,’ she says. ‘When I got the offer I ran up to my mum and dad and I felt like I was glowing with excitement.’
With Zero Gravity providing a scholarship fund and free one-to-one sessions with a mentor at Oxford, Fiona was able to complete the application process and has enhanced her personal development after arriving at Hertford.
This has included a solo research trip to Kosovo last spring where she conducted interviews, scoured archives and made friends.
‘What Zero Gravity has given me is a sense that I’m worth believing in, and that my goals are worth realizing,’ Fiona says.
Fiona in traditional Albanian dress at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (Picture: Lesley Lau @lesley_lau_)
‘At one point in life, I was a shy kid on an East London council estate, struggling to catch on to the English language.
‘Now I’m an English student at Oxford, and I feel more confident than ever advocating for my community and for human rights.’
The aspiring refugees’ advocate is due to graduate next year and is aiming for a career helping others flee war, persecution and poverty.
She is looking to refugee and humanitarian work with the ultimate aim of becoming the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
‘Working in human rights and diplomatic relations feels like the right fit,’ Fiona says. ‘I guess it started from hearing all those stories growing up.
‘The human rights abuses that happened during the Kosovo war are unspeakable. But I also heard stories about how communities gathered together to help out refugees during this time, and also stories of individual acts of humanity, like a note written by a UN peacekeeper I read in one of my mum’s old books, where they encourage her to keep painting.’
Fiona is looking to life after Oxford making a difference to displaced people around the world (Picture: Fiona Zeka)
While Ukraine and the small boats crossings in the English Channel have dominated headlines about displaced people, the return of violent unrest to Kosovo is also of concern to the undergraduate.
‘I’m shocked at how human rights continue to be abused during wartime,’ she says. ‘But I feel spurred on by those little moments of bridge-building between humans and communities.
‘I want to help raise awareness, effect change, and empower others to join the fight for refugee rights. I believe in a world where human rights protections are universal, and with recent events in the north of Kosovo, I hope that international organizations will ensure the safety of Kosovan citizens while also working to de-escalate tensions.’
Fiona spoke at the end of the 25th Refugee Week, which is designed as a platform for people who have sought safety in the UK to share their experiences with the vision of allowing them to live in inclusive communities where they can make a valuable contribution to society.
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Fiona Zeka is the first member of her family to go to university after growing up on a London council estate.