I was born in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of
Iraq, and was raised in Canada. What brought me to AUP was
my keen interest to expand my international experience by
living in the heart of Europe and making new friends and
contacts through AUP’s culturally diverse classes and
renowned professors. What I found at AUP was more than I had
imagined, including friendly staff, helpful student
advisors, and practical real-life modules as part of my
academic program.
The multicultural environment of AUP not only gave me a
deeper appreciation for differences in opinion, beliefs,
cultures, and customs, but also helped me recognize the
similarities in values and principles across humanity.
Meeting classmates from such diverse cultural backgrounds
and establishing new friendships allowed me to feel more
connected to world events and to relate more closely to
political and social conflicts that happen elsewhere.
In January 2009, I completed a six-month internship at the
United Nations headquarters in New York, where I worked at
the Senior Leadership Appointments Section of the Office of
the Under-Secretary-General (DFS), and contributed to
counter-terrorism with the Executive Office of the
Secretary-General. I later worked on post-conflict
reconstruction and development at the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Previously I worked as a
journalist in Iraq following the war in 2003, and lived in
and traveled to various countries in the Middle East, North
Africa, and Europe. I speak, read, and write English,
Kurdish, Arabic, French and am a citizen of Canada and Iraq.
I currently live in Paris, working as a Consultant on the
Middle East and North Africa Governance Programme at the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD).
My studies at AUP influenced my life greatly, especially
through the practical modules I had to take as part of my
graduate program. These modules have been extremely helpful
not only in my professional life, but also in my personal
life in terms of conflict resolution and negotiation.
With its location in the melting pot of Europe and its
students and staff from the ‘strangest’ mixture of
nationalities and ethnicities, attending AUP helped me feel
related to every nation, to every culture, and to every
language. It is an ideal place for forgetting our
differences, and for truly appreciating our similarities.
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