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Dubai: University Graduate Wins White House Internship
Tahmina said she was overwhelmed when she first found out that her application was successful. “But now I’m getting used to the idea. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime really.”
Tahmina Mahdi, 19, is a prime example of how seizing opportunities can pay huge dividends. In a couple of days the American University of Sharjah (AUS) graduate will embark on an experience of a lifetime as an intern at the White House in Washington DC.
“My father was forwarded an e-mail by one of his friends and he suggested that I should consider applying. I thought ‘why not?’ without even expecting to get it,” said Tahmina.
She graduated this year from AUS with a bachelor’s in mass communications and a concentration in journalism.
When Gulf News asked Tahmina what made her an exceptional candidate she said: “I don’t know. I don’t have the greatest grades ever but I did my work really well and I was recognised as a good writer. I think the selection panel was also impressed with the work I did during my internship at a website company.” The admissions criteria was to send a memo to the United States president — Tahmina spoke about the country’s global reputation — and submit an essay about her commitment to public service.
Tahmina said she was overwhelmed when she first found out that her application was successful. “But now I’m getting used to the idea. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime really.”
First time
Tahmina’s proud mother, Laurial, who is associate director of the Intensive English Programme at AUS said: “This is the first time an AUS graduate has been chosen for this honour and possibly the first time a UAE resident has been selected as well.”
Tahmina still has no clue what duties she will be performing at the White House. “I still have no information about what I’ll be doing. I have a feeling I will be blogging, making videos and doing some photography.” Her dream is to meet US President Barack Obama.
“That’s the one thing I’m really excited about. I don’t know if I’ll get to meet him or not.”
The White House internship is unpaid and four months from January to May. Tahmina said she has found an apartment on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC where she will be on her own for the first time.
With her dad a former AUS adjunct professor and her mother currently working at the university, the American national has spent most of her life in the UAE, having visited her home country only during the summer.
As for her career plans and long-term goals, Tahmina is undecided. “I want to go to graduate school in [autumn] and then land something really good in broadcast journalism, preferably in the States. I want to do stories about community problems and stuff like that,” she said.
Amelia Naidoo
Campus Notes Editor