Making My Dreams a Reality!

 It was the moment when I landed at the Los Angeles airport, disembarked from the plane, inhaled a deep breath of fresh air and meditated on the inspiring wide blue horizon, that I realized that my dream was coming true. I was overwhelmed by mixed feelings of immense happiness, anxiety, challenge, and limitless energy and motivation to break all boundaries and limits.

I am so grateful for such an unbelievable opportunity, which will help me in achieving my dreams of changing Egypt and the world into a better place to live. I will do this through learning and applying the top engineering and cutting-edge technologies at the University of California, Los Angeles. I now have the opportunity to pursue my dream of conducting research in renewable energy which will transform Egypt into a greener place to live, improve the standard of living through developing the power infrastructure, and contribute to the establishment of a new green economy in Egypt.

The past nine months have been the most wonderful experience I have had in my life; words are not enough to express how thankful, happy, and proud to be part of such an amazingly rewarding experience I am. Over these past 9 months, I have had the chance to meet amazing people from all around the world from diverse backgrounds and cultures, sharing inspiring stories and experiences, and learning the true meaning of motivation as we work hard to achieve our dreams.

I am lucky to have met wonderful professors from different fields who have taught me a lot both academically and personally as they shared their interests and experiences with worldwide issues in energy, the environment, politics, poverty, health, and peace. These encounters broadened my horizon, intellect, and awareness.

I have had the opportunity to engage with the Fulbright community here and participate in several enriching events, including volunteering to help the homeless, meeting with the staff from the LA times, visiting the LA River, and visiting JPL. These activities have allowed me to meet other great Fulbrighters to discuss the future of the US and our countries, explore how we can work together to solve the complex issues facing the world today to change it into a better and safer place to live in, and spread our feelings of love for one another.

Finally, I have had the chance to travel around the US; visiting the beautiful inspiring grand canyon with its spectacular scenery; passing by San Francisco in the spring; seeing the unbelievable golden gate bridge which I always used to see in movies; and experiencing beautiful sunny Venice Beach with its unique palm trees, singers, skaters, and people.

I am so grateful and proud to have been granted this once-in-a- lifetime opportunity by the generous Fulbright organization and the US government; it is a life-shaping and game-changing opportunity!

 

Ahmed Mohamed is an Egyptian Fulbright pursuing an MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Independence Day in the USA!

Fulbrighter Fatma Aljarrah at University of Wisconsin-River Falls had the opportunity to partake in July 4th celebrations in the USA. Her story and video are posted below!

I am a Fulbrighter pursuing my master’s degree at University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and this was my first experience celebrating America’s Independence Day in Still Water (Minnesota) due to the geographical closeness between River Falls, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. This was an experience to remember. The crowd included people of all ages, babies in strollers, little boys and girls, men and women, both old and young. People from different countries and religions came to show that we belong to one tribe; the tribe of HUMANITY and we all share the desire to live peacefully. What a magnificent scene to join; music and fireworks all over! It was a time where you could see families reunited, and they embraced this precious moment to be grateful for the blessing of independence. I really feel that I am a very lucky girl to witness one of the most glorious days in the lives of the American people. Thank you, Fulbright Program for your support and encouragement to attend such events. God Bless America and its nice people. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. May peace prevail all over the world.

Fatma Aljarrah is a Fulbrighter from Gaza who is pursuing a Master of Arts in TESOL.

Save the Last Dance!

I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend one of the Fulbright Enrichment Seminars for the year 2015. The focus of this seminar was on the arts and civic engagement. During the four days of the seminar I was engaged with people, both guest speakers and participants, who decided to take a step beyond the limitation of their boundaries and build bridges of love and compassion to communicate their dream of love and peace with their communities and make the world a better place. I learned that the bridges could take different forms; one example being a paint brush that assists people from outcastcommunities to express themselves on the walls and change the face of the city into a more expressive and lively one through mural artworks. Now, the walls of Philadelphia tell different stories of resilience, diversity and coexistence of Philadelphia’s inhabitants.

I was also moved by the flow of the communication amongst us, the participants of the seminar. We all stepped beyond the limitations of our gender, race, language, and color to know one another. What I witnessed in this gathering was more than tolerance. It was love and acceptance of one another. During the seminar, I found myself wearing my earrings that are inscribed with a line of verse that says in Arabic, “ جمعنا الحب فماذا يفرقنا”, which means if love bonds us, nothing can make us apart. We were bound by love and the many beautiful memories and moments that we shared during the various activities we did together in the seminar.

For me, one of the most influential moments was during the movement workshop led by Rebecca Davis, founder and executive director of MindLeaps. Rebecca shared with us her experience that demonstrates the power of communicating emotions and thoughts through physical movements. Using this philosophy, her program shifted the lives of street boys into more productive and meaningful ones. As a final activity to the workshop, Rebecca asked groups to create a dance move that expressed a collective thought or feeling of the group. My group, a diverse group of people from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and the UK, decided to lift me up in the air! I was lifted by universal love. This moment was gloriously liberating and unifying to all of us. I will always cherish this memory that filled my heart with peace and joy.

Maaly Younis is an Egyptian Fulbrighter who is pursuing an MA in Educational Psychology at University of Northern Colorado.

AMIDEAST Staff Post: Matthew Guckenberg attends the Enrichment Seminar in Philadelphia

I had the great pleasure to attend the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar in Philadelphia this year, which focused on Civic Engagement in the Arts. The event started with a highly energetic and passionate presentation from Jane Golden, Executive Director of the City of Philadelphia, Mural Arts program. The students were engaged and excited about their next day’s activity, where they would get to take part in painting one of the thousands of murals that Jane helped bring to Philadelphia. 

  

 

Following the painting of some of the sections of the murals, which are painted onto parachute cloth and then pieced together and glued to the side of a building, we took a trolley tour of some of the more famous murals in Philadelphia. One of which is a four story painting of former NBA Basketball Player, Dr. J, wearing a suit. 

 
The final day of the seminar concluded with a great presentation by me and Megan Ames from the Institute of International Education (IIE), followed by a dance workshop. The dance workshop was great fun as well as very informative. We got to see how MindLeaps, a new NGO, uses dance education to help better the lives of young people in Rwanda. Following the viewing of a short documentary and discussion about the MindLeaps program, the students were led through one of the same workshops that are used with the Rwandan children.

 

The Fulbright Enrichment Seminar in Philadelphia was a great opportunity to visit with students from all over the world and to learn about all the great things they are planning to do to increase civic engagement in their own communities.

Matthew Guckenberg works for the Fulbright team at AMIDEAST in Washington, DC.

Fun Travels with the Utah Fulbright Chapter

 The Utah Fulbright chapter arranged a hike and a one-night stay at the Capitol Reef National Park, which is one of five national parks in the state of Utah. The chapter organized most of the trip logistics, and we had some suggestions as we went along the trip.

We carpooled to Capitol Reef and it was an interesting four-hour drive as it was full of discussions and fun games. As soon as we arrived at our destination, we checked in the inn and went for a quick walk to discover the small town for a while. The next morning after breakfast we all went on an amazing hike at Capitol Reef National Park where we saw petroglyphs, red rocks, and historic structures. The scenery was spectacular and it reminded me of Jordan’s Wadi Rum, which is also known as the valley of the moon.

We left the park after dinner and arrived back in Salt Lake City a little before midnight. It was a wonderful trip to southern Utah, and sharing it with other Fulbrighters added uniqueness to the experience.

Khalid Ahmed is a Jordanian Fulbrighter who is pursuing an MS in Computational Engineering and Science at University of Utah.

Volunteering with the New Orleans Community

On Tuesday, May 12, 2015, I joined a group of Tulane Fulbright Scholars to help assist New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, and AmeriCorps in New Orleans. We left the university at 7:00 AM and headed to America Street in New Orleans, where volunteers were already hard at work. NOAHH is planning a ten-day, ten-home blitz build this month in commemoration of the decennial anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and so our job was to help lay the foundations for some homes and prepare them for wall-raising.

Most of us didn't have any construction experience and some of us had never even held a hammer before. However, the AmeriCorps staff were very patient with us and immediately put us to work. With my friends from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Uzbekistan, we built walls, put together windows and hammered in so many nails. We learned terms such as “flush”, “plum” and “king jack”. I helped put in five porches in five different houses, after mastering the circular saw and the electric screwdriver. Even though I cut myself on power tools, sweated in 86-degree weather and got a spectacular sunburn, I enjoyed myself a lot and I was proud to know that I helped build a new home for someone in need. In the past year, I have been part of an incredible community and I loved to give back, even if just a little, to New Orleans. New Orleans is an amazing city, incredibly resilient, and I’m very proud to be part of the ongoing effort to rebuild the city that has become my home.

Tamam Tawk is a Lebanese Fulbrighter who is pursuing an LLM at Tulane University.

International Week at Texas A&M University

Last week was International Week at Texas A&M University, which included many activities to show on-campus diversity at our school to educate students about different cultures. I volunteered at 3 events, which were called I-History, I-Exhibit, and I-Fashion. 

At I-History, I gave a 10-minute presentation on the rich history of Bahrain. There were only 9 countries represented in this event. The audience was so pleased to hear about Bahrain and learn about its history and culture.

At I-Exhibit, I joined forces with the Arab Student Association and showcased many items about Bahrain that were displayed alongside other Arab countries at the event. I volunteered at the booth and answered any questions from visitors. It was set up in a very live and vibrant place where many students walked by.

At, I-Fashion I wore traditional clothing of my home country and carried the flag on stage, alongside other participants from different countries. This was the biggest event of International Week, and it was done at a large theater and attended by many people. Everyone enjoyed the diversity and the show that was put together in this event.


Ahmed Almulla is a Bahraini Fulbrighter who is pursuing an MBA at Texas A&M University.