A Palestinian grandma just earned her PhD and everyone's impressed

A heartwarming video of a Palestinian grandmother celebrating her graduation with a doctorate degree went viral on social media earlier this week.

74-year-old Najma Khalil Abu Esbaa, who had worked as a teacher in the UAE for over 17 years, finally achieved her life-long dream after she presented and defended her doctoral thesis to a panel of judges over the past weekend. 

Speaking to Gulf News, Abu Esbaa said: 

“The joy of wearing the graduation gown from The Hague University does not match any joy." 

“I believe education has no time limit or age limit and it is a weapon for every woman,” Abu Esbaa added.

The mother of five also thanked her husband, children, and 14 grandchildren, for supporting her in achieving her dream. 

“I couldn’t have achieved my dream without the support of my husband and children in the last five years while preparing the PHD thesis. It made me overcome all the difficulties,” she explained.

Members of the university's committee praised Abu Esbaa's paper titled: "The role of Palestinian women in the struggle within the quarter-century of the first Intifada until 2012".

The academic's work had documented the struggle of Palestinian women for over a quarter of a century and was described as "historical".

In a statement he made at her graduation, Abu Esbaa's husband, Dr. Abdullah Mustafa, expressed joy over his wife's success, saying: 

“She is a great mother and wife who gave her children the best means of education, planted in them the highest meaning of life, which is the love of science. She did not allow any barriers to stop her. She is the best example of women struggling in the march of education.”

Soon after news of Abu Esbaa's achievement started to make the rounds online, a video of the grandma celebrating her graduation went viral on social media. 

"Look how happy she and her husband are!"