The Panhellenic Exams reported an ‘example of strength and determination’ from Lesvos, Greece.

A young Iranian man, Kouros Durmohamadi Bagi, excelled his Model High School exams and hopes to secure a spot at the Department of Electrical Engineering of Thessaloniki, his top choice.

Kouros, or Kyros after the king of Persia, as Greek friends call him, arrived in Greece in 2019, as a refugee and first settled in the Moria refugee camp.

Speaking to Aeolos TV in Greek, wearing a T-shirt with the name of Pythagoras, he told his story of persecution, at the hands of Turkish Police then shared his dreams.

Kouros and his family tried six times to cross over into Greece by boat from the Turkish coast, and finally succeeded in 2019. After a journey in adverse conditions which lasted 50 days, they crossed over to Lesvos.

They were in the reception center of Moria where the living conditions were difficult “Whatever Moria was, at least I knew I was in Lesvos, I was in Europe,” Kouros said.

“I’ve been through unimaginable things. You have no idea, but my life in Mytilene is good. I have friends, I have school, I have good classmates and teachers. It’s good,” Kouros added.

The Iranian student thanked his school teachers who he said supported him as well as his teachers at the afterschool he attended, the Protypo Frondistirio of Mytilene.

His overcame the uprooting and the difficulty of the new language and culture.

Coming second in his school, Kouros is excited to follow his dream career and work towards making the world a better place with an average of 18.25 in the positive direction, writing a score of 20 (highest score given in Greek high school) in mathematics, 20 in physics 20, 19.5 in chemistry 19.5 and 13.5 in creative writing.

He joked about “almost coming first” i

“Creative writing did it, I’ve only been here for three years” He was complimented by the reporter on his command of Greek and his accent.

“I owe it to being at school and having to communicate in Greek constantly,” Kouros said.

“I lost my mind when I found out my grades, I jumped up in the air. The secret is lots of study.”

Watch his interview in Greek here: