What woman inspires you?
Honestly, all of the women in my family inspire me a lot. Of course, my mom and my grandmother both inspire me, each in different ways. My mom came to America from Syria and raised five kids, and she has her own incredible story. My grandmother inspires me because she grew up very poor in Syria as the oldest of 10 siblings. She went through a lot in her childhood; her father passed away when she was in college, and her youngest sibling was only five at the time. Despite these challenges, she helped her mom raise her siblings while also attending medical school to become a pediatrician, a path her father encouraged her to pursue. I would say my grandmother inspires me in that way.
Tell me about any project, initiative, or specific course that has made a significant impact on you during your journey at College Park.
I would say the project I worked on as a data analyst intern at the Maryland Center for School Safety made the most impact on me. It involved understanding how my work could influence public schools and how safe students feel there. My project focused on analyzing students’ perceptions of their safety and emotional well-being at school based on survey results.
I created graphs and analyzed the data to compare perceptions with the type of security coverage schools had, whether through school resource officers or traditional law enforcement. By examining how students’ perceptions of safety changed with different types of coverage, we could determine how to improve the support for the SRO program and enhance students’ sense of safety in their school environment. This project was particularly impactful because it demonstrated the real-world application of data analysis in making schools safer for students.
Where do you see the field of STEM headed in the next decade, especially in terms of AI, tech, and data?
STEM is moving toward becoming more technical, with technology revolutionizing the field. I believe it will be integrated into almost every other STEM field. We already see it a lot in engineering and mathematics, and I think its presence will continue to grow in medicine as well.
While some people are concerned about AI taking away jobs, I believe technological advancements can also create more opportunities. It’s important to view this from different perspectives. For example, although automation has negative connotations, it can free people to focus on higher-priority tasks. The technology we see now, including automation, can actually benefit and improve workflows, making some tasks easier. While it may take some jobs away, it can also create many more. I definitely see technology being integrated into more fields, especially medicine.
When you think about all the information we’re bombarded with from tech and social media, how do you maintain a healthy relationship with them, especially considering your generation faces these challenges more than previous ones?
I think having a healthy relationship with social media is very important. I’m not very active on social media, which helps a lot. I set goals for myself and focus on what matters most to me. Right now I want to finish school and graduate, so I’m very career oriented. That’s my main focus, so I try to minimize distractions. Social media and technology can quickly become distractions if you don’t remind yourself to focus on other things. It’s about managing your time and shifting your focus to what’s more beneficial.
Of course, using social media and technology can be fun in your free time. I’m not saying I don’t watch Netflix or go online when I’m not supposed to. But it’s about priorities. For me, I prioritize my career and studies right now.
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