Growing up in a working class Muslim household in Oldham, in the 1980s, life was about hard work and respect. By the age of twelve, I had been fully trained in all the skills my mother thought were necessary to becoming the perfect Muslim housewife: knitting, sewing, sitting pretty and respecting my elders.

Azi Ahmed

Azi Ahmed

But frankly, I had other ideas. I was the youngest of the four children, and although I was little; skinny; an easy target for my big brothers and the kids who called me curry breath in the playground, I was no pushover. At eighteen, I infuriated my parents by choosing to study art rather than education or medicine at University. And at twenty-one, I dodged the bullet of an arranged marriage by forging my mother's signature on the paperwork.

But I never dreamed my determined streak would take me to the elite squad of the British Army. Fast forward five years and two degrees later, and I found myself at the British Army's Chelsea Barracks, somewhat surreally, signing up to do a trial session with the SAS. I heard they were taking on people part time and I thought it would be a fun "after work" activity. Serves me right: the 'warm up' alone turned out to be a 2.5 hour workout, a mixture of running and press-ups across London in the driving rain and wind. I lagged two miles behind the other girls and wheezed my way to the finish as my instructor laughed and called me a "waster". Maybe Zumba would have been better..

My physical ability wasn't perfect but my tenacity and endurance had been noted, and I was asked to join the 200 men and eleven women who were to start the initial six-week training course.

Going on exercise was very tough. One time we'd been out for 12 hours with 50lb rucksacks on our backs. I bent over to be sick from physical exhaustion. 'While you're down there, do 80 press-ups,' barked the trainer. It was relentless. I'd go home scratched and bruised and have to wear trainers under my shalwar kameez so my parents couldn't see my blackened toenails.

But it was training in the Brecon Beacons for 48 hours non-stop that was the toughest mental and physical challenge of my life. We started with an eight-mile run. Our superiors deprived us of sleep and would suddenly wake us in the middle of the night with shouts of, 'Enemies are on the ground, 400 metres, get into position.' We'd have to leap from our sleeping bags and do 'section attacks', getting into groups of four and 'attacking' our fellow soldiers as if they were enemy; firing blank rounds using a SA80, a M16, jungle weapons, pistols. It was hard-core and I almost died twice - nearly falling off a cliff, and being submerged underwater unable to get the heavy pack off my back.

My parents taught me "Always finish what you start" and it wasn't in my nature to quit. One by one my colleagues fell by the wayside as they got injured or couldn't cope with the rigour. By the end of Selection training there were 20 men and two women left. I was one.

Azi Ahmed's book Worlds Apart: A Muslim Girl with the SAS is available to buy via Amazon, Kindle and leading retailers. For more information about her please visit www.aziahmed.com She tweets @aziahmed1