My name is Nawal Mir and I am a Business Administration senior.
As I approach my final year at university it is grounding to be back to with GES, who helped put on my absolutely amazing college years. When I reflect back on my many experiences as a year’s student in CMU, there are several that stand out to me and I’d like to share some with you here.
In high school you will have encountered several brick walls which may have included finding what passions you wanted to pursue, SATs, final exams and maybe even convincing your parents to let you leave the comforts of home to go abroad in the pursuit of your education. If you are present here today, you have already taken down one of the biggest brick walls: getting into college. I’d like to share a few of my own pearls of wisdom as you go your ways after graduation:
In the last 3 years alone, I’ve got to travel to the US, UK, Sweden, Malaysia and meet thousands of other people that are going through the same journey I am.
Towards the end of freshman year, my debate partner was a good friend and I had won novice speaker of the year the Qatar Universities Debate League. I had to be willing to commit several weekends, and meticulously manage my time over freshmen year to get through this brick wall. We will always have the support of the university but ultimately it all comes down to how much effort you are willing to put into something to make sure you succeed. At the same time don’t for get to thank your parents. Your original mentors. Nothing is possible without them.
One of my main priorities during my transition into college was making sure I was a well-rounded individual, which included being involved with community service. CMUQ is involved in several community service projects from the Language Bridges club which teaches English to migrant works. I had the opportunity to travel to Nepal and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Even it doesn’t relate directly to your academics, just explore.
