Story of Dr Parikh Dadestan: Iranian woman who chooses her country over opportunities abroad

This is a real story of Dr. Parikh Dadestan’s life, the only Iranian female psychologist who graduated from Jean Piaget, the famous Swiss psychologist.

“During my studies in Switzerland, my main food was cheese and bread because swiss was a costly country. Jean Piaget was my supervisor. He was very strict and had rigorous discipline!

I could not afford it, but I finished my bachelor studies in three years instead of four years. The day I had an exam with Piaget, I was fainting from hunger at the exam session. The exam took 6 hours, and it was two days that I haven’t eaten anything.

My house was located right opposite the university across Lake Geneva. It was not affordable for me to take a boat, so I left home at 5 am to take the exam on time. Two hours after the exam, I saw that I was losing consciousness and might miss the chance to succeed in the exam. In this harsh situation, there was a break due to the length of the exam. There was some refreshment to buy, but I had no money. My mind no longer did work. My Greek friend asked, why don’t you buy something? My pride did not allow me to say I have no money, and I said I have no desire to eat. My friend did not accept and bought me a cake and coffee and saved me. I passed that exam with a good grade. After graduation, Piaget, who liked me, suggested that I work for institutions under his supervision. He said we did not nurture you for Iran. Please stay and do not go back to Iran!

But I said that you have a lot like me, but my country deprives people like me, and I have to go back, after that I went to see him every year, and he said if you regret it, you can come back. But I never regretted it!”