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Outlook: I Applied to University from a Trench

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13/03/2018 GMT

I Applied to University from a Trench

BBC World Service - Outlook, I Applied to University from a Trench

Min Zaw Oo was a Burmese guerrilla, until a jungle epiphany led him to pursue peace

The Burmese guerrilla turned top negotiator, the man who overcame lifelong illiteracy and the male synchronised swimmer who defied expectations.

Min Zaw Oo is a Burmese Guerrilla turned top negotiator, who's fighting to end decades of insurgency in Myanmar. As a young man he joined a student militia that was fighting the military government, but an epiphany in the jungle led him to reconsider his future. An opportunity to study in the USA presented itself, and he wrote his scholarship application from a trench. 

We often hear from women on the programme who have broken into some traditionally male domain and made a success of it. But in this case Pau Ribes is a man who's broken into a traditionally female domain. He's a 22 year old from Spain, and from the age of seven, he's been obsessed with synchronised swimming, but he had to fight for the right to compete. 

Norman Brown was illiterate for most of his life, but he'd always gone to great lengths to keep it a secret. That was until he met an inspiring tutor who changed his life.  

(Photo credit: Soe Than Win/Getty Images.)

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