By Shahrazad Meerza (YES 2012-2013, Kuwait, hosted by AFS in Ann Arbor, MI)

There’s one thing YES alumni have in common: giving back. After completing the YES program in the U.S., many YES alumni utilize their skills, fresh new knowledge, and time to help prospective and upcoming YES students in their home countries. Our YES Alumni Spotlight of the Month, Shahrazad Meerza, has been an active YES alumna in her community since she returned from the U.S. In high school she achieved a high academic record and was granted a government scholarship in July 2015 to pursue her undergraduate study in the field of Law at the University of Surrey in England.

Upon returning to Kuwait after a phenomenal year in Michigan, I immediately knew that I wanted to share my experience in the U.S. with my local community and encourage students to apply for the YES program. When I came back, I had two more years of high school to complete so my work as a YES alumna was mostly with the YES program office in downtown Kuwait City. I worked alongside my mentor, Ms. Rasha Zalzala, and the current amazing YES team in Kuwait. 

I believe that the main purpose of my work as a YES alumna is to share my cultural experience in the U.S. with others as a way to encourage more students to apply for the YES program. My goal is to also represent Kuwait in the best way and to give people a better understanding of our culture in order to eliminate stereotypes and misconceptions. 

To the left: Shahrazad and colleagues talking about the YES program and their experience in the U.S. during an interview with Kuwait TV.

My work as a YES alumna has been mostly “behind the scenes”. I worked as an invigilator for the standardized tests and spoke at the pre-departure orientations when the finalists and alternates were chosen. Participating in the orientation is my favorite activity because it gives me a chance to share my experience with the students and their parents while emotionally preparing them for their YES future. It’s definitely difficult for a parent to let their teenage child live halfway across the world for a year, and it’s even more difficult for a teenager to suddenly pack up their life and live in a new country with a completely new family, in a new community, surrounded by a new culture. This is why it is important for me to be a part of the on-boarding process for new YES students. Being with the students and parents from the very beginning to emotionally and mentally prepare them is the core of my work as an alumna. I absolutely love just sitting down the with the students and telling them how making pancakes for breakfast feels like a great achievement!

My life as a YES alumna has definitely played an integral part in pursuing my academic life. Now, I am studying Law at the University of Surrey in the UK. I continue to represent the YES program and my country at my university and in Guildford (the cute town I live in). At the university, I am the social media coordinator and photographer of Surrey’s Kuwait Society (yes we have a Kuwait Society!). Working with the Kuwait Society is something I definitely love to do because it allows me to contribute my culture to our very diverse university and gives me the opportunity to teach my peers about Kuwait. As head of social media, I put together videos for Kuwait’s national day which features my Kuwaiti friends, in different places on campus, addressing what they miss most about home and what studying abroad has taught them. Needless to say, it was a success and our video resulted in a large audience at our national day celebrations!

My plan for the future is to graduate with honors and pursue my LLM (Master of Laws). I want to continue being on the Surrey Kuwait Society team to give the world a taste of Kuwait through the most powerful platform of all ---social media! I also want to continue working with the YES office in Kuwait and to prepare the students for an experience of a lifetime. 

The joy that comes from preparing future YES students for their cultural experience in the U.S. makes me determined and eager to continue making an impact as a YES alumna. Through my efforts, I know that I can help the youth in my county transform into young ambassadors of the YES program, upholding the value of diversity and creating change in their communities.

Congratulations on all of your efforts and accomplishments, Shahrazad!