Year-in-Review
Transitioning from Abu Dhabi to Cincinnati, finding community through engineering clubs and research, and discovering a passion for entrepreneurship through Startup Weekend.
This past year was one of the biggest periods of personal growth in my life. As an international student, moving from high school to college was hard, especially coming out of COVID lockdowns and leaving behind familiar faces and people I loved. At first, settling in and finding a sense of belonging at the University of Cincinnati felt almost impossible. But I stuck with it, and slowly I found my footing.
A lot of that growth came from pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Instead of giving in to the homesickness, I went looking for ways to meet people and build something here. My first semester wasn't going the way I'd pictured, so I decided to change that. I joined clubs like Engineers Without Borders and ACM and threw myself into them, and the friendships I made there were what finally made Cincinnati feel like home.
I also pushed myself into new things, like the RaMP and ENED honors research experiences. They taught me a lot, but just as importantly, they connected me with people who were curious about the same things I was. The research itself stretched me intellectually and made me more sure of myself.
The biggest turning point, though, was Startup Weekend. A friend and I built out a startup idea for physiotherapy called PhizzIO over the course of the weekend, and to our surprise we took second place and got real, encouraging feedback. That weekend hooked me on entrepreneurship. It's what pushed me to join the Bearcat Ventures club and start working with the Center for Entrepreneurship.
Through all of it, I tried not to let setbacks get to me. I started treating the hard parts as things to learn from rather than reasons to quit, and that shift in mindset is mostly what got me through a tough first year and let me actually start to enjoy it.
I also want to keep investing in the friendships I've made here, because they've been a huge part of my growth. Having people who support you and push you to keep going makes all the difference.
Looking back, my first year grew me up a lot. By pushing out of my comfort zone and going after opportunities instead of waiting for them, I got through the hard parts and found a place for myself at UC. I want to keep that going, leaning on the people around me and making the rest of college just as full as this year turned out to be.
