Looking Back, Moving Forward: Student Journeys

Through shared stories and resources we are highlighting and celebrating the many ways educators, researchers, students, schools, and partners have advanced Arabic language education and shaped QFI’s community.

The following focuses on students whose dedication, curiosity, and perseverance have led them to continue studying Arabic beyond high school. Their journeys demonstrate how sustained opportunities to learn Arabic can open doors to academic achievement, personal growth, and meaningful careers. While each path is unique, they all reflect what can happen when talented students are encouraged and supported at pivotal moments in their educational journey.

First Year University Award: Supporting Students as They Continue Their Arabic Journey

For many students, the transition from high school to university is a defining moment. For those already studying Arabic, continuing language learning in college can represent both challenges and opportunities.

Through QFI’s First-Year University Award (FYUA), students have been able to continue building their Arabic language skills during this important transition. The award has helped them maintain momentum, deepen their proficiency, and pursue academic and professional interests where Arabic plays (or has) a meaningful role. This week we are featuring three students whose stories illustrate the many paths Arabic learning can take. From strengthening connections to family heritage to preparing for careers each demonstrates the lasting value of continued language learning and the possibilities that emerge when students are supported in pursuing their goals.

For Zain, Speaking Arabic Was Only the Beginning

As a heritage learner Zain grew up surrounded by Arabic through family conversations, summer programs, and community life. Formal study helped him build confidence in reading, writing, grammar, and professional while pursuing a degree in Business Information Systems.

Today, Arabic is both a personal connection and a professional asset, preparing him work across cultures, understand regional contexts, and build meaningful relationships in Arabic speaking business environments.

Read Zain’s story here.

How Arabic Became a Pathway of Possibility for Sam

For Sam, learning the Arabic language has become more than a simple course of study. It is a language that shapes how she sees the world, how she connects with others, and how she imagines her future both academically and professionally. Despite her high school not offering Arabic as a language course, she was determined to study it and become fluent. Through the First-Year University Award, she continued her studies in college where Arabic now complements her work in  epigraphy and her interest in ancient Near Eastern languages and comparative Semitic studies.

Her story reflects how access to meaningful Arabic learning opportunities, can expand academic horizens, deepen cultural understanding and inspire ambitious new directions.

Read Sam’s story here.

How Arabic Supports John’s Aerospace Path

John chose to study Arabic in high school out of curiosity and a desire to broaden his future opportunities. Today he is studying aerospace engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology while pursuing minors in Computer Science and Middle Eastern and North African Studies, with a concentration in Arabic.

Continuing his Arabic studies through the First Year University Award strengthened both his proficiency and his commitment to integrating language skills into his professional aspirations.  For John, Arabic became more than another university course, it became part of preparing for the career he hopes to build.

Read John’s story here.