Hello! I’m Ziad from Alexandria, Egypt. 2 years ago I moved over 10 thousand kilometers away from home to study in BC, Canada. Moving from a big city with millions of people to a small town in the west coast Canada amidst the incredible BC forests was a big change but it taught me a lot. There, I learnt one of the most important lessons of my life: a tight-knit, small, loving community is one of the most valuable things a person can have, and that is also why I chose to continue my journey in Portland at L&C, another small community amidst the green forests.
UWC presented me with the opportunity to explore myself purely, living on my own for the first time and being presented with so many opportunities and freedom opened many doors for me. In my first year I decided to take on hiking which became one of my favorite things to be reminded of the beauty of the world we live in. When I applied to L&C I googled Portland forests first thing and I instantly knew that hiking would definitely be something I’ll be doing during my time there.
Besides that, I got to explore philosophy and politics through my classes (and my 2 other CAS: MUN and anthropology). These have been interests of mine for a long time. I found profound understandings in reading philosophy and used that as a lens to explore the world we live in and its politics. So I decided (not a 100%) I will be double majoring in International relations and philosophy at L&C, and I’m beyond excited for my classes there.
I’m very passionate about social impact and finding out that it is a big value at L&C was a major deciding factor about going there. I also love reading fiction, listening to music (my favorite band is Big Thief!), crocheting occasionally and writing poetry.
I haven’t traveled much but I’m looking forward to explore the US for the first time and see other cool spots in the west coast.
I hope that L&C will be another home to me during my 4 years there and I can’t wait to form more deep connections there!