Ready for a New Remote but Well Connected Semester

Upon the debut of the new academic year, LAU welcomed 15 new Tomorrow's Leaders Undergraduate (TLU)  scholars coming from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and Lebanon and 275 new Tomorrow's Leaders Gender Scholars students who gathered around two virtual Orientation sessions to help students connect with the program staff and colleagues even remotely. MEPI Coordinator at the US Embassy in Lebanon Mr. Andrew Doehler welcomed the TL students and highlighted the positive energy and dedication of the TLers in pursuing excellence in education offered by MEPI amid challenges.

During the virtual orientation, students got introduced to the LAU MEPI TL team, LAU’s rules and procedures, got an intensive advisory session having a complete comprehension of each major and completed their registration. 

Our Family Tree is Growing!

The LAU MEPI TL family continues to grow with the addition of esteemed new faculty members. With diverse backgrounds from natural sciences to mathematics – and diverse interests from political psychology to women empowerment – the new team members are excited to make use of their well-rooted knowledge and expertise to mentor TL students and provide them with opportunities to thrive and develop their skills, critical thinking, creativity, and deep understanding of important disciplines.

Welcome to the LAU MEPI TL Program!

LAU Opens Wide Doors to TLG New Comers

LAU launched a recruitment campaign for the MEPI TLG Program -Fall 2021, a fully-funded program to attract outstanding students from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen to apply for one of the following master’s degrees: Applied Economics, Education, Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, International Affairs, and Biological Sciences.

The TLG program equips graduate students with the professional experience needed to advance their academic knowledge and engage in research that furthers the professionalization of emerging leaders while supporting and increasing scholars’ knowledge in gender issues  in their various fields of study.

 Testimonial- Internship TLG

Zahraa Arkadan a TLG student from Lebanon summarizes her internship experience and the myriad of benefits she got from this unique experience: “I had the privilege to do an internship at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) during the Fall 2020 semester. This internship enhanced and strengthened my research skills and it helped me gain a lot of knowledge in the field of debt relief and climate finance which is of interest for me for my specific future career goals and interests. I worked on multiple research tasks including collecting data and doing a review of the literature on different parts and points during this internship, in addition to my work on some other tasks that would complement the previous work. All in all, this internship experience was enlightening and helpful on different levels and it helped me be in touch with different people from different fields. Besides, I believe this internship will open new opportunities for me in the future especially with UN institutions and other international organizations due to the experience and knowledge that I have gained during this time. At the end of this internship, I earned a certificate of appreciation from this institution due to my efforts and work put into the assigned project.”

TLG e-Book

The LAU MEPI TL Program has worked on a tailor-made electronic book for the first graduating cohort of TLG students. This e-book portrays in-depth interviews done with Graduates highlighting major milestones achieved in addition to forewords from Program administrators and advisors. The TLG e-book will be constantly updated including future graduates' profiles.

TLS Gender Mainstreaming for Equality Awareness and Advocacy

During the fall semester,  MEPI LAU TLS students took part in the monthly lecture series, “Food for Thought” (F4T) organized by the Arab Institute for Women (AiW) at LAU to further engage TLSers in gender discussions. Two webinars were tailor-made for TLS scholars, to sensitize them on several topics related to gender equality and women’s rights issues.  The first webinar “The Pandemic, The Blast, and Their Effects on Gender Rights”  underlined the effect of the pandemic in increasing gender-based violence, while another session, “Gender Discrimination: Legal, Political and Economic Implications”, stressed on women’s participation in politics and the labor market.

Both webinars were interactive and closed off with lively Q&A sessions, allowing TLSers to connect with panelists and deepen their understanding of the discussed topics.

TL Workshops 

This Fall term, the LAU MEPI TL Program succeeded in building a sense of community within the students. With the quick shift from “Normal” to the “New Normal” the program explored new alternative learning style options to balance students' mental health with quality instruction and mentorship. Here’s a list of online workshops the program delivered successfully for the Fall Semester.

Success Stories

TLU

TLG

Together with three of her colleagues, Rasha Shalha a TLG student from Lebanon worked on a project “Methli Methlak” (You Are No different) which entails the establishment of a juvenile reform center to be a refuge to youth upon their release from jail. The “Methli Methlak” project will provide youth with proper therapy and guidance to help them adjust to reality and face life challenges successfully.

 TLS

After being equipped with analytical and critical thinking skills, hands-on experiences, case studies, and hybrid simulation, some TLSers were able to come up with their very first gender-based research paper in fall 2020.

A recurring theme across their papers was how gender stereotypes weigh down a woman’s self-confidence and keep her from her attaining her potential.

 Alumni

Flash Wins

TL Committees' Activities

TLers Initiate Mentoring Support for their Peers

The fall semester witnessed the participation of 15 TLers in a formal mentorship program that had a significant impact on their colleagues' personal, social and academic sense of well- being. The colleague-to-colleague mentorship program encouraged 15 TL mentees to achieve their full potential and promote a sense of shared community where mentors referred to their personal experience in the program when advising their peers during the semester.

As a thank you gesture, TL mentees recorded a short video to express their gratitude to their mentors for all the support and guidance. 

The MEPI TL Program,

From Students’ Lens

Interview with TL Student Ahmad Chaib- Morocco- Business

 Briefly tell us about yourself, focusing on significant events that have shaped your character/personality.

To start with, my name is Ahmed Chaib and I am a junior business student. I consider myself to be a good listener and observer. To be frank, A LOT of events have shaped my personality but the most significant one is getting bullied in high school. I learned not to give up on my dreams and most importantly I learned that we cannot fight hate with hatred. Sometimes we need to accept the fact that people will just not accept us even if we do nothing wrong. We sincerely just have to love our enemies and be kind to everyone because every single person on this earth has their own battles in life that we know nothing about.

 How many mentees did you guide during the Fall semester? How does the peer mentor position fit into your personal goals?

I have mentored two students. It perfectly fits my personality and character. I sincerely love being there for people and helping them. It makes me feel great and most importantly, it is my purpose in life.

 What experiences have prepared you for being a mentor?

As a new MEPI TL student, I did a lot of mistakes that I could have avoided easily. In addition to that, as a person, I was a bit confused and lost as it is not easy leaving your family, friends, and country at a young age to live in a completely new environment, alone. I adapted quickly and I learned from my mistakes. I honestly feel that as a mentor, my main task is to make sure others do not do the same mistakes and that they do not feel lost. My purpose is to make sure they have a better experience.

 Mentoring requires collaboration, patience, problem-solving skills … what strategy have you adopted to accommodate all those needs that led you to a successful mentorship experience?

Listening is the key. I strongly believe that sometimes just sincerely listening to the other will make a huge impact more than a thousand words would. It is all about proving that we genuinely care and as mentors, WE DO CARE.

 Final word?

I just want to thank the TL Welfare Officer for trusting me and giving me a chance to share my ideas with her. Honestly, she is the best person ever. Besides, I would like to say a big thank you to my fellow mentors who are doing a great job. The Mentor Program is all about making sure others feel safe and at home. We are one huge family, mentors, mentees, and every MEPI TL student.

Testimony- Zina Kamel, Syria, Computer Science:

On Experiencing the First year with MEPI TL

“Transitioning from high school to university is not an easy process and having it all virtual made it a lot harder. However, the MEPI TL team at LAU helped me a lot through online one-to-one meetings and workshops. Even though it is impossible to sense the full experience online, they facilitated the process and introduced me to several university facilities. Moreover, the academic advising and weekly meetings helped clear out any problems I faced during the semester. I tried to make use of the online experience through internships and volunteering work. I volunteered as a web development mentor and as an English instructor for refugees. I am also interning as a research assistant and as an intern to develop an android course that will be taught to women refugees.

Although the campus experience was missing, participating in virtual competitions made it more fun. Winning second place in the AI hackathon and first place in the Hult Prize On-Campus competition made it even more exciting. I am so excited to go to the campus to have the full university experience and meet everyone.”

A Glimpse at the upcoming Capstone Project Presentation Day

Like every year, the MEPI TL Program organizes an event celebrating the culmination of their eight-month- capstone projects and their final work during their studies at the program. Through the Capstone project, senior students work on a project to define a problem, collect and analyze data, visualize the results, and, finally, formulate and deliver a possible solution. This year, 31 students from Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen will be presenting the nutshell of their four-year studies in the program at LAU.

“Funding for this program was provided by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), a grant from the United States Department of State.”