submitted by shafer@augsburg.edu
URGO is proud to announce that Abdul Sharif (2000 Political Science and TRIO/SSS Summer Bridge Participant) has been named a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant to Malaysia. Abdul has won many national awards, including the Gilman Scholarship (by working with Study Abroad and Study Away staff), Boren Scholarship to study Swahili in Florida and Tanzania, the Public Policy and International Affairs Scholarship to study last summer at Princeton and the Critical Language Scholarship, which he declined to take the Boren. He also spent a semester in Namibia through CGEE.
He’s been active on and off campus, including being involved in student government, the Pan-African student union, West Bank College Bound, Capitol Pathways and Politics and Law and Society.
Abdul, through words, actions, coursework and professional goals, expresses a genuine interest in learning about the world. He’s attracted to Malaysia because it’s a Muslim majority country, with a strong Hindi contingent and other interfaith communities. He wants to further explore the Muslim diaspora in Asia that he found in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town. Previous teaching and tutoring experiences in the U.S. and Tanzania demonstrate his commitment to assisting others with language learning. A refugee from Kenya, who speaks multiple languages, Abdul understands the challenges and rewards of learning a second language and is driven to provide his Malaysian students with skills to be change agents in their communities. The ETA fits with his goals of working with the Foreign Service.
Congratulations to Abdul!