VIU_Magazine_Summer_2017

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INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION Eager to share her optimism and willingness to create an impact on the world, Asmaa, draws inspiration from growing up in the culturally diverse city of Cairo, Egypt and breaks out of her comfort zone to take control of her destiny while living abroad in the US. ASMAA ELMENIAWY A current Virginia International University student, Asmaa Elmeniawy, shares her life perceptions and cultural experiences after moving to the United States from Egypt. Living abroad, she is striving to create an impact on her local community and for her family back home in Cairo. 46 University Magazine, VIU Summer 2017
VIU.EDU from How will you make the world better by studying healthcare management? My family always taught me the importance of helping others without waiting for something in return. They also taught me that some things we cannot buy in life and one of them is our health. That is why I wanted to go into healthcare since I was a child. I originally wanted to be a physician but my father once told me physicians can diagnose problems but pharmacists are the ones who cure it. He encouraged me to go to pharmacy school to be the reason someone becomes healthier and happier. I believe healthcare management will take my career steps ahead and I will be able to work in a multinational pharmaceutical company; which will give me a chance to work on different medications to save more lives and make the world better place for everyone. What is a common misconception for international students coming to study to the United States? There are a lot of misleading stories we see in the media and watching movies about the USA. One of the biggest misconceptions is that college life is full of fun and parties and students do not need to study a lot. This is completely not true. When I came here I realized the education is not that easy as it is portrayed, especially when it comes to higher education. Here, everyone earns their degree. Another misconception is that US society is dangerous. We all see movies full of violence, crimes, guns, drugs, robbery, etc. Personally, I found all these movies are misleading; I never felt unsafe while walking the in streets of US. The last misconception that a lot of international students believe is that the American life is easy and all Americans have luxury jobs, cars, houses, and big bank accounts; which I believe is not true in any nation; Americans have to work hard too. Did you learn more about yourself living away from home? Living alone in a different country made me become more independent, as I do everything by myself. I have no family here so I had to learn and adapt without any directions from anyone. I grew so much as a person and professionally while living alone. I learned that I love my family so much; I love my Egyptian heritage and culture. And for sure I know how much I love and miss Egyptian food. The biggest different I found when I came to the USA is the transportation, it’s very easy in Egypt to find public transportation or a taxi anywhere you go, and the metro is everywhere. What did you try for the first time here in the USA? Because Egypt is a tourism country I already had experience with different cultures and tasting their food as well. In Egypt, we have a large diverse group of restaurants from around the world. We even have diversity among Egyptians as it depends on where you live in Egypt- you will have different attire, food, and slang. The only thing I have tried here in USA that I did not have a chance to try at home is different types of dance. The US is a very diverse country with different nations, since living here I have tried Indian dance, Cuban dance, Latin dance (salsa, bachata) while learning more about each culture. What is a difference between living in Egypt and America? When I first arrived here I found it hard to move from place to place without having a car. Coming from the very crowded streets of Egypt where the population is more than 90,000,000; Cairo by itself is more than 22,000,000- so it’s very busy in comparison with Fairfax, Virginia. The weather is a big difference; it snows in some areas of Egypt but we never had snow storms. That was a new experience for me when I came to the USA. Lastly, in Cairo you can find stores that are open 24 hours, I found it very hard in the beginning; throughout the day there is life in the streets and cars zooming around [in Cairo]. The malls close at 12 am, sometimes later; it was a big change for me when I found that most of the stores in Fairfax close by 10 pm. If you could go back in time and tell a younger version of yourself about coming to the USA, what would it be? I would give the little girl a hug and tell her to be patient and strong. I would say “one day you will be a reason why a lot of people are happier. You will make a difference in many peoples’ lives and your family will be proud of every step in your journey.” I don’t think that I would change any of my decisions I made in life because I generally think through all the outcomes. The only change that I would make is to share my feelings with my family and tell them “I love you” more often- I did not know that I will be in the US all by myself. Summer 2017 University Magazine, VIU 47
Page 1 and 2: MAGAZINE ISSUE 8 JUST WHAT IS ASSES
Page 3 and 4: VIU.EDU Summer 2017 CONTENTS FEATUR
Page 5 and 6: WELCOME TO READERS VIU.EDU LETTER F
Page 7 and 8: CAMPUS NEWS VIU.EDU CAMPUS NEWS 12
Page 9 and 10: VIU.EDU Laina C. Lopez presents at
Page 11 and 12: VIU.EDU THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY
Page 13 and 14: VIU.EDU VISITING SCHOLAR PROGRAM Du
Page 15 and 16: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS VIU.EDU INDUSTRY
Page 17 and 18: VIU.EDU The Right Path Finding the
Page 19 and 20: VIU.EDU saying things like “stupi
Page 21 and 22: VIU.EDU and other techniques. This
Page 23 and 24: VIU.EDU AT-A-GLANCE BY CHRISTINA KO
Page 25 and 26: 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
Page 27 and 28: VIU.EDU “Many successful stories
Page 29 and 30: VIU.EDU BOT FUN FACTS • The avera
Page 31 and 32: VIU Alumni Association Plant the se
Page 34 and 35: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Rebecca Yu is the
Page 36 and 37: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Anastassiya Lapik
Page 38 and 39: INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION Love is..
Page 40 and 41: INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION IT ALL ST
Page 42 and 43: INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION Kazakh ma
Page 44 and 45: INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION Share you
Page 48 and 49: INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION Koshary (
Page 50 and 51: THE WRITTEN WORD A Whole New Mind B
Page 52: Stay Connected with VIU. #GOVIU

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