Marvel

June 28 2014

Hi Everyone!

I’m 20 years old and currently a third year student at the University of Waterloo. I absolutely love my University because of the great opportunities it leads me to. By the time I graduate in 2016, I’ll have approximately a year and half of working experience all thanks to the co-op program. Although my university years have played a key role in shaping my identity, and I could go on about that for a while, I want to share something with you that truly makes me who I am today.

Today, I want to share a little story about two special heroes in my life: my mom and dad. About 12 years ago, my parents decided to move to Canada from Kuwait for the sole purpose of their kids’ education. Coming to Canada, at the age of eight, I couldn’t ever comprehend what this would mean for our family. My dad decided to stay back for a while as he had been doing really well in his career back in Kuwait. My mom took care of us, helped us with our homework and ran the household here. Their time apart for 10 years meant that they made their children’s education and success their absolute priority in life. It wasn’t just the big sacrifices. I remember waking my dad up at 2:00 am his time, in Kuwait, to go on MSN and help me with a physics problem I had been struggling with. My parents’ intense love and dedication for us gives me the strength to push my limits and fears aside to continuously strive for more. The education, morals, and values they have instilled in me have made me who I am today – a leader and a fighter. And I can’t thank them enough, except to acknowledge and honour everything that they have done and continue to do for me.

Currently, I’m taking a course on Coursera called “Programming for Everyone”. I have no clue why, but educational systems fascinate me…and what interests me more are the differences between them, across cultures. This course is teaching me basic Python programming skills through data analysis. It’s amazing how technology is changing our world, especially classrooms and teaching students. It’s why I wanted to learn coding. One of the reasons why I enjoy online education is because I am allowed to move at my own pace. It satisfies my curiosity and there’s always more to learn – it never stops and I love it!

If you have any recommendations on books, music, advice or just want to connect, I would love to hear from you!


IK
[email protected]
Toronto, Canada


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