On Dec. 9th 2001, I was shot twice in the face at the convenience store I used to work at by a regular female customer who wouldn't take no for an answer. I was 29. I then spent 2 weeks in the I.C.U. of Tampa General hospital where a surgeon took part of my parietal and temporal lobes. My family was told that I would have problems with memory(short term), hearing, vision and reasoning.

With the support of my wife, my daughter, who was 3 at the time of the accident, my brother, my sister and my parents who moved to Tampa from North Africa so they can be close to me, I was out looking for a job 2 months later. Unfortunately, they had to take me to the looney bin for an attempted suicide. But again, I made a miraculous recovery. I wear hearing aids now and with the help of the Epilepsy Foundation, I landed a job working 40 hours a week helping the poor and the homeless getting back on their feet.

I was able to keep the same job for nearly 3 years and I am enrolled part-time at a local community college where my GPA is oscillating between 3.0 and 3.5. I'm going to realize my dream or die trying. I want to be a physician and I won't let seizures, depression, mood swings or other psychological disorders get in my way.

To all of you living with epilepsy, you can either dwell on the past or get up, get out and make it happen.