At the UO I majored in Comparative Literature in 2012 and studied Arabic there for three years. Shortly after graduation, I moved to Cairo where I worked as an editor for a local trade magazine, an intern at the American University in Cairo Press, and later, briefly, as a news editor for Egypt Independent. I then relocated to Istanbul, and worked as an editor for an international business magazine. I am currently a staff writer and news editor at a Palestinian news agency in Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank. 

How has the study of Arabic been important for your life and career?

Without Arabic, I wouldn’t have been introduced to the network of people – both faculty and fellow students at UO – who encouraged me to move to Egypt and start a career in media. I would have never thought it possible to live and work abroad, had it not been for the education of the Arab world that I received at the UO. Acknowledging the immense privilege I was born with that enables me to travel and cross most borders with relative ease, being a part of a community of Arabic-language learners and native Arabic speakers has unlocked a world of opportunity for me, both professional and personally, for which I am very grateful.

What has learning Arabic meant to you personally?

Studying Arabic at university and the ensuing years attempting to improve my Arabic has been an ongoing struggle that has truly tested the limits of my mental strength and my potential for personal growth. Every sincere effort I have made in the past to improve my Arabic has only enriched my life, and one of my main regrets is that I haven’t tried harder. My experience learning Arabic and living in the Arab world has also continuously challenged my worldview, which has made me more of a critical thinker and I think more of a decent person in general.