What makes you a Difference Maker?

What really makes me a Difference Maker is my passion to continuously give back to my community whether it is on or off-campus to empower the younger generation to become leaders and the best. I strongly believe that people should leave this world a little better than how they found it. When I give back to my community, it shows you firsthand how much volunteering can truly be impactful, and it also allows you to see how a small change in a person’s life can really make a difference. There were many countless moments in my life where I did lean on my parents for some assistance and guidance, which shows the undeniable importance of having mentors in your life. As a mentor, I am able to build this long-term relationships with students where I aim to center my mentee’s growth and development. Being a mentor, I am able to give assistance, guidance, build confidence and help direct by shaping my mentees’ future opportunities for the better. Mentoring and teaching enabled me to share my knowledge and wisdom so that students are able to learn from my experiences in hopes of minimizing the mistakes that they make in their life. I serve as a support system where I encourage and empower my mentees to chase after their dreams no matter how difficult the task is at hand. I do my best to help my mentees develop their strengths and weaknesses which allows me to play a critical role in their life where I strive to help them make the best of themselves. I found my passion of always lending a helping hand whenever I can. The best part of what I do is that I am able to see individuals who were once shy and stayed in their little bubble develop into a shining star who steps out of their comfort zone and becomes outgoing by wanting to accomplish any goal, they set their mind to. Through my mentorship and teaching experiences as well as my dedication, commitment, compassion, and hard work ethic that I believe I am a Difference Maker.

Tell us about your leadership experience.

I hold several executive board positions in various clubs such as being secretary for Orphan Relief and the event coordinator for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). I am a mentor in both Diverse Understanding Creating Community (DUCC) program and in Our Generation’s Keepers (OGK) club. Also, I serve as a tutor in the Detroit Educational Outreach (DEO) club. My campus work experiences are being a Supplemental Instruction (SI) leader, a Talent Ambassador for the Talent Gateway, and an Orientation Leader.

Being a supplemental instruction (SI) leader for both biology and chemistry courses has led me to apply my leadership skills to students through independently teaching and elaborating on certain topics that students need more clarification on. I facilitate collaborative learning study sessions and help maximize students’ potential for academic success. I am able to teach them the importance of having effective study skills while also incorporating different learning styles. I encourage the students to collaborate effectively during the sessions among their colleagues to enhance their communication skills and subject understanding.

As a Talent Ambassador, I review online reflections that are submitted by Talent Gateway members, where I am able to provide feedback and award points. I am able to serve as a mentor to help students with identifying their aspirations, connecting them with campus resources, and assisting them with exploring new opportunities. Given the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues has helped me to work on certain individual and group projects to achieve my goals effectively in a timely manner. The Talent Gateway is a perfect place for an individual to improve on their soft skills where they can grow personally, academically, and professionally.

As an Orientation Leader, I am able to welcome new incoming students into the university whether it be transfer students or freshmen that just came from high school. I make sure that students feel welcomed to our campus while providing information on how to get involved and what campus life is like. I work to build a community among the students to help and assist students to alleviate their fears and concerns they may have about college life.

As an Our Generation Keepers (OGK) mentor, I serve the underprivileged Middle Eastern-North African community during the COVID-19 pandemic. I work with Salina Secondary School where I provide guidance for the youth as well as help enhance their educational development. I work with students who have been struggling to achieve their highest potential in their classes due to the barrier that they have with online learning caused by the pandemic. I build my mentees’ confidence, inspire and motivate them to believe in themselves by telling them that they are able to accomplish any goal they set their mind to while making sure they achieve success by constantly advising and keep meeting with them. OGK has allowed me to empower students to be successful in their academic journey.

As a part of the Detroit Educational Outreach (DEO), I am able to provide a meaningful experience for students who are in the Dearborn/Detroit community by helping serve English Language Learners (ELLs) through tutoring them. I am able to speak Arabic with the students and help with the language barrier that they may have when it comes to attaining their academic success. I am able to lead students to a brighter future by helping them, specifically, those who come from low-income backgrounds, receive a good education.

Through being a Diverse Understanding Creating Community (DUCC) mentor, I am able to help engage these first-year college students with all campus activities as well as refer them to resources that will allow to flourish on their academic journey. I am able to expand their network and allow them to learn about the opportunities and advantages the university offers.

Through all my work and volunteering opportunities, I am able to make students better leaders themselves through my guidance and personal connection that I am able to build with them. I believe that it is important for me to share my knowledge and wisdom with my mentees so that they are able to learn, grow, and prosper, which is why I believe everyone should have a mentor in their life. I want to give my mentees inspiration as well as give them some sort of direction towards the path that they want to pursue.

What is your dream career or goal?

One of my future goals is to become a physician one day. It has always been my dream of mine where I want to help underprivileged people and provide aid to those who need medical help. I want to contribute back to underserved populations that struggle every day and who do not have as much access to medical assistance as other privileged groups. Right at the heart of medicine, is caring for your patients, and I believe that it is a privilege to be able to help people who are at their most vulnerable state. I find pursuing a medical profession is very rewarding, humbling, and eye-opening. Being able to help a person regardless of any circumstance that they are in and being able to lead people to a happy and healthier life is what drives me to become a doctor one day. Through leading by my mentoring, coaching, and teaching experiences as well as my many other involvements, as a future physician, I will be able to continue to nurture the development of others by becoming the best teacher I can be for my patients. I have learned to understand the root cause of the students’ difficulties and struggles first, by understanding their fears and concerns, before providing them with the assistance they need. To further expand on my curiosity and the love I have for learning, I will be completing a Cancer Biology Graduate Summer Research Fellowship at Wayne State School of Medicine this upcoming summer.

What is your most defining moment?

It is quite difficult to only choose a single defining moment in my college experience so far because I believe that all these remarkable experiences and journeys, I have been a part of are what really make me who I am. I have been gifted with many wonderful opportunities both on and off-campus, that there is not a single experience that defines who I am as an individual rather it is everything that I have experienced and will continue to experience as a whole. The CRUISE to Success program that I was involved in during my freshman year was the very first stepping stone and introduction I had to the university. With that experience, I was able to meet so many wonderful people where I was able to meet one of my favorite advisors, Lynn Grimley, who I have maintained a constant relationship with ever since my foot stepped into the doors of this university. This experience has allowed me to expand my horizons and embark on my journey at U of M-Dearborn where I eventually started working for the Talent Gateway as a Talent Ambassador. I was able to work with fellow students on our project for Giving Blueday, a day filled with different acts of kindness and giving, where we worked to fundraise and were able to surpass the goal that we had set. Through this opportunity, I was able to work with a diverse group of students and develop the skills that allowed me to become a better version of myself. My campus work experience is what allowed me to flourish as an individual and to take advantage of any opportunity that came my way. I have learned the importance of expanding my network and how much I should utilize the resources and opportunities that the University of Michigan-Dearborn offers. I am very thankful for the opportunities that I have encountered, and I look forward to many new experiences where I can continue making a difference in people’s lives.