Saeed Al Jaberi

  My name is Saeed Al Jaberi. I am an ADIA scholar from Al Ain, UAE studying finance at MIT - Cambridge. I just graduated from Umich where I studied Mechanical engineering, which I joined after a PG year at Kent school I have always wanted to accomplish things in my life and knew that in order to achieve my goals, I had to get the best education I could possibly get. Choosing to study engineering was not a very hard decision to make as I have always believed that engineering is a field that requires discovering new depths of one's mind, but I realized now that I need a change, and so I decided to study Finance. 

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         College: My message from college so far is, challenges are what usually cause our growth, and as college students, our minds are yet not fully developed, and are bond to deform. Use this precious time to grow and achieve!!

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• Soccer: This is the one hobby that I have been able to take with me where ever I went. I have learned a lot from playing soccer. I played it first at our house with my older brothers during my earliest days. I continued to play at the school and after school. It taught me discipline, leadership, perseverance, and many other things. I had the pleasure of playing for the varsity teams in my schools. See the picture below of me playing for Kent in the New England's Semi-finals. 

 

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• Clubs and Organizations:  For the first two years of college, I have been lucky to be on the Virginia Tech campus. There are so many clubs and organizations to choose from. During my first year, we started the UAE students association, and since then, I have been part of the MSA (Muslim students association), Saudi Students Association, Habitat for Humanity club, and an intramural Soccer team.

• However, when I got to Umich, I joined new clubs. I joined:

  • 1- Umich MSA

  • 2- SNS (Special Needs Soccer)

  • 3- Mechanical engineering chapter at Umich

  • 4- Northwood community (this is my living community), 

  • IM Soccer & Volleyball(indoor and outdoor) 

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       I formed a soccer team along with my friends who mostly were international students who are all doing study abroad programs. We            reached the semi-finals where we lost as a couple of teammates did not make it. But, all in all, it was definitely a great experience. 

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• Reading: I started reading English books during my senior year of high school. However, reading was not a hobby for me when I first started. I started reading becasue I felt the need to read. I wanted to improve my English and also to explore the fun of reading. The first novel I read was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossenei. I was amazed how reading really did show me things I never knew existed. Here is a list of the names of the books I recommend and a comment on each:

1- The Kite Runner: Good friends are good brothers. 

2- Fahrenheit 456: Books are gold.

3- Outcasts United: Do the best you could do with what you have.

4- Genghis Khan and The Making of the Modern World: Good leaders are self-controlled.

5- The Leadersip of Muhammad: A good leader is one who descends to the level of his/her people.

 

• Traveling: My First Trip: In sixth grade, I was asked to take a test that measures the Arabic proficiency and speech abilities. I scored well in the test, and was chosen to attend a monthly camp in Dubai. In one weekend, we would learn advanced concepts of Arabic language and we had to give speeches each time we were at the camp. At the end of the academic year, we were chosen to represent the UAE in the Gifted Kids festival in Turkmenistan.

                    That trip was my first trip, but after that, I had similar experiences when I went to Turkey, Kuwait, Ireland, and the U.S. All of which taught me different things and opened my eyes to new sides of the world.

                    This year though, I have traveled to more than twenty cities including: Boston, Sedona, Grand Canyon Village, Las Vegas, Morgantown, Pittsburg, Ann Arbor, New York, St. Louis, Christchurch, Wellington, Queenstown, Timaru, Kaikoura, Moteuka, Tekaka, Te Anau, Temuka, Wanaka, and Sumner. Studying abroad in New Zealand has allowed me to visit almost half of these destinations.

                    I visited Boston for the first time this year to visit MIT for a possible graduate program. Similarly, I visited Ann Arbor to visit UMich after getting accepted there. Morgantown, New York, and Pittsuburg are in my list because of some of the volunteering I have done this year. As for the rest, these cities were part of my summer road trip map.

• Most recent study abroad - Winter 2014: A three week-long study abroad on sustainability and humans of New Zealand. We had the chance to do over 15 hours of community service hours in Christchurch, New Zealand. This gave me a chance to study topics that are out my academic comfort zone, and that's why I fee every college student should do a study abroad at some point of their college careers. As a side note, during this program, I believe that I have slept in , at least, 8 different beds!! We surely did a lot of traveling around New Zealand.  Please feel free to click on the images below to see my comments on them!