With the new school year about to begin, students who graduated from Qatar Academy Doha (QAD) last year are gearing up for their next academic challenge – university.
And with Qatar Foundation (QF) being home to Hamad Bin Khalifa University and seven partner universities, as well as the Academic Bridge Programme (ABP) – a pre-university programme for high school graduates – it’s the obvious choice for many students looking to stay in Qatar, QF has said in a statement.
Interested in anatomy, Salma al-Hardan is set to attend the ABP for one year before continuing her studies at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), where she will be enrolled in the Biological Sciences programme.
“I’ve faced many obstacles during my senior year. After talking to my brother, who is CMU-Q alumnus, he offered me helpful advice on the program, including how it will take me on an alternative route to medicine. And I realised it doesn’t matter if it takes me longer to get to the degree I want,” said al-Hardan.
Al-Hardan’s passion for medicine stemmed from shadowing her father, who is a practising doctor, and attending lectures at Hamad General Hospital on how to become a first responder. “I strongly believe that first-aid should be taught in all levels of school to help anyone in emergency situations,” said al-Hardan.
Al Ghalya al-Jahni will be attending Georgetown University in Qatar and studying International Economics. She hopes that by studying economics she can play a part in helping to shape the world and Qatar’s economy. “During the summer of 2020, I almost started my own business selling summer boxes made up of fruits and beverages for the beach. This project gave me a brief insight into the business world,” said al-Jahni.
Al-Jahni acknowledges that it was her business class at QAD that fostered her entrepreneurial and organisational skills. “I also took two summer courses at Northwestern University in Qatar, which provided me with great understanding of business communications and marketing, which I believe is very useful for me to have before entering the business world,” said al-Jahni.
AbdulAziz al-Nasr has been interested in mechanical engineering since the ninth grade and will be pursuing this passion at Texas A&M University at Qatar. “Over the years, my interest in mechanical engineering has transformed into a hobby for engine modification. And I even spent one year repairing an old car as a personal project,” said al-Nasr.
Nizar Radi is interested in pursuing a career in finance, and is to start the Business Administration programme at CMU-Q. He is currently finishing an internship at Snoonu as a market analyst. Nizar thanked his business class teacher, Kyle Prevost, who inspired him to go full force into the business world.
“Being a financial analyst is the ultimate goal. I’ve done lots of research projects and I’m interested in the world of finance, consulting or investment management,” said Radi.
