alumni blog | The American University of Iraq Sulaimani

Warning message

Mean Menu style requires jQuery library version 1.7 or higher, but you have opted to provide your own library. Please ensure you have the proper version of jQuery included. (note: this is not an error)

alumni blog

To AUIS Class of 2015, Set Your Goals High!

The AUIS 2015 Commencement brought tears of joy to my eyes. I was following the commencement pictures and videos that were shared by my fellow AUIS friends one by one. I didn’t pass any picture or video without either proudly liking or commenting on it. It just felt amazing! As an AUIS alumnus, I felt incredibly proud to see so many AUIS friends receiving the most prestigious degree one can achieve in the country - an AUIS degree. I would like to leave my message to all the AUIS Class of 2015 graduates. Warm congratulations my friends! You all truly deserve this big achievement and success! As a friend of each one of you, I would like to ask you to set your goals high; you will get them with this degree and the knowledge you have gained at AUIS. There is a bright future and new adventures waiting right around the corner for all of you. Please do not be afraid to aim high or to take up new challenges.  Do not be shy of applying to high positions or multinational companies locally or abroad. You can do it! I am currently working for one of the most well-known multinational companies in the world - Cisco Systems. I’m sharing a message to show you how much you will be able to accomplish through what  you have learned at AUIS; to let you know that you should feel confident to accept the most challenging works regionally or internationally. Dear Mahdi, Thank you very much for your continuous effort and passion in not only setting a clear strategy for your territory, but also for your innovative approach to generating business and your above and beyond focus on your partners and customers. The trust and relationship that you've built with them in such a short time is admirable. Please keep up the great work! Thanks, Muge. I wanted to share this success story to encourage you to set your goals high and to not be afraid of taking up new challenges. You can do it! Keep up the good work. Wishing you all great success in future.   Are you an AUIS alumnus? Do you want to share your share your AUIS journey too? Send it to [email protected] along with one or more good resolution photos. It shouldn’t be more than 500 words, and the email message should be clearly labeled ‘AUIS Alumni Stories’. We would love to hear from you!

AUIS Prepares Us to Become Global Citizens

Dina Dara Meran, Class of 2014
Four years ago when I graduated from high school, I applied to many universities in Iraq and abroad. I remember being so hesitant about deciding where to go. I also wanted to experience living away from home in a different city and making new friends other than knowing my family’s friends in Erbil. After some weeks, I remember receiving a text from AUIS saying I was accepted. It was late at night, and I ran to my dad excitedly with the news. It was obvious by then that my choice would be AUIS, and I have never regretted that. At AUIS, I did not only learn about international studies theories, Plato’s Republic, economics, world history, physics or journalism; I also had the chance to practice them through internships and activities on campus. AUIS strikes a good balance between theory and practice. AUIS is truly unique in a sense there is always so much going on at campus. There is always an interesting guest lecture, an event organized by a student club, a debate, a match, and all of these helped me grow and opened up so many doors. My best times at AUIS were spent taking part in the activities by the student clubs, especially the AUIS student newspaper,Voice. I enjoyed the bittersweet moments and the teamwork while publishing the newspaper.  I learned to network and make connections at AUIS. My internship experiences during the last four years with the Iraq Oil Report publication, General Consulate of the Republic of Turkey in Erbil, Development Iraq, International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Institute of Regional & International Studies (IRIS) were arranged through AUIS. You always find an AUIS staff member, professor, administrator, or alumnus ready to help - whether it is for a class or a job you need to find, or a personal problem. It was at AUIS that I learned how to give to others, without expecting to receive anything back, especially through volunteer work. And I am proud to say that AUIS taught me the true meaning of citizenship and how to engage with my society. At the same time, just like any other American liberal arts institution, it prepared me to be a global citizen where I can understand the complexity of issues in the world as well.    It was also because of the education I received in AUIS that I could go to the oldest graduate school of international relations in the United States.  Today as I sit in the class, I can make arguments and contribute to the discussions just like any other graduate student. AUIS prepared me well in those four years for graduate school in the United States because of its liberal arts style education. Are you an AUIS alumnus? Do you want to share your share your AUIS journey too? Send it to [email protected] along with one or more good resolution photos. It shouldn’t be more than 500 words, and the email message should be clearly labeled ‘AUIS Alumni Stories’. We would love to hear from you!  

AUIS Makes the Impossible, Possible!

Mahdi Murad hails from the town of Ranya in the Sulaimaniyah Governorate of Kurdistan. He graduated from AUIS in 2014 with a degree in business administration. He currently lives in Amsterdam, Holland where he is working for a well known multinational company. After finishing high school, I was looking for a program that would allow me to focus on more than one field of study. The liberal arts education at AUIS was a great answer to my search. I joined AUIS because I found it a far better choice than any other available to me. Not to mention, AUIS is still the dream university for any student in the region! I achieved so many personal goals that might have been impossible at any other university. I not only majored in business administration, but I also became a journalist, a playwright, and a sports lover through the various extracurricular activities that AUIS offers its students. I believe that the extra knowledge and confidence that I gained, along with my degree, has been really helpful to me in getting hired by one of the most well known international companies around the world – Cisco! After I graduated, I turned out to be a businessman, a journalist, a playwright, and a worldwide traveler who visited more than 30 countries around the world mostly because of AUIS. Therefore, I would like to leave a message to my fellow students and friends in the region and at AUIS. To all AUIS students – I would like to encourage you to always be proud of the name of AUIS and always value what AUIS offers you. Last year, I was just a regular student and my dream was to graduate and get a simple job. Now, in less than a year, I got a job with one of the most competitive international companies in the world. This proves that AUIS makes the impossible possible and you, through AUIS, can easily achieve all your dreams. Respect AUIS, its curriculum, and its professors, because you will only understand how big AUIS is after you graduate! Are you an AUIS alumnus? Do you want to share your share your AUIS journey too? Send it to [email protected] along with one or more good resolution photos. It shouldn’t be more than 500 words, and the email message should be clearly labeled ‘AUIS Alumni Stories’. We would love to hear from you!  
Subscribe to RSS - alumni blog