In her own words, alumna Lillian Reza narrates her love story with alumnus Omair Raja, telling her audience how "Omair and I have been inseparable since the very first time we met. We connected through our shared love of Medicine, History and Politics" and how "this year, we are lucky to be celebrating fifteen years of being together and four years of married bliss."
"Omair and I briefly met each other on the very first evening of medical school in the Whitechapel Students’ Union but it wasn’t till the following day that we really got talking.
To everyone’s amusement at the introductory lecture to medical school, Dr Mark Carroll asked us to take a good look around at the sea of new faces, telling us that there was a high possibility that we would eventually marry someone from this room.
At the next session for international students, the lecturer was running late. I found myself sitting next to an animated and lively boy who could not help but instigate a debate on the merits of learning History. I spent the next fifteen minutes passionately defending my decision to take History at A level to this complete stranger. Little did I know that this was the first of many passionate debates with my future husband and the love of my life, Omair.
In the summer of 2017, we got married in London, the city that brought us together from across the world and which has kept us together all of these years.
Omair and I have been inseparable since the very first time we met. We connected through our shared love of Medicine, History and Politics. We would spend hours sharing our experiences of growing up in various countries and cultures. Omair’s parents were doctors who travelled and worked all over the world and so did mine. Somewhere along the line our friendship developed into love and very soon we knew that we were meant to be. After medical school, I started my journey towards securing a training post in general surgery in London. Omair graduated a year later following an intercalated degree at Queen Mary. Two years after graduation, Omair wanted to travel to Australia to experience medicine abroad. I wanted to continue my surgical training in the UK. We both found the distance hard but realised that these experiences were incredibly important for our own self development.
After Omair returned from Australia to start a two-year post in core medical training in London, I had to leave the city to take up a one-year training post in Plymouth. That year was the loneliest and the most difficult year for both of us. We were both adjusting to new jobs and being far away from each other, our friends and our families. The following year in 2015, I came back to London with a six-year training post in general surgery. Omair decided to explore emergency medicine and ended up loving the speciality. In the summer of 2017, we got married in London, the city that brought us together from across the world and which has kept us together all of these years.
We have had our challenges and our fair share of joy. We have supported each other through the distance created by jobs and the stress of postgraduate exams and degrees. I am a surgical registrar and I am currently studying for my PhD. Omair is an emergency medicine registrar in London. We do not expect life’s challenges to end any time soon, but we are better equipped to face them if we are together. This year we are lucky to be celebrating fifteen years of being together and four years of married bliss. We hope that we continue to celebrate our love, respect and devotion to each other for decades to come. Queen Mary will always be special because it gave us a chance to find each other.
Thank you for reading our story!"