Keep educated – No matter how cruel life gets

If the past five years of war have proven anything good at all, it is the saying that “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” It is true that the brutality of war bit into our souls, crushed our dreams, and stripped our lives of all means of happiness, but it also has taught us…

HBX at the Harvard Business School: The Role of Online Education in Humanitarian Crises

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to attend the HBX ConneXt among nearly 500 students from over 20 countries who participated in HBX, an online learning project by Harvard Business School. In this post, I will not talk about why I think that participating in HBX was one of the most remarkable learning…

Syrian Youth Empowerment

Syrian Youth Empowerment Syrian Youth Empowerment is an initiative co-founded by three Syrian graduates of Illinois Tech with the aim to support Syrian high school students by offering several areas of service to Syrian youth including: Free TOEFL and SAT classes (in Syria) College and university guidance and counseling to secure scholarships in the U.S….

Actively supporting Syrian refugees: A Syrian’s Lens

An amazing friend asked me yesterday how she could contribute to the Syrian refugees crisis, as she was watching the debate regarding this topic rising but not sure how to be part of the action. Thus, knowing that many friends would love to help within their capacity but aren’t sure who to trust, I am…

730 days: both a lifetime and a blink of an eye

Summer 2013. The war in Syria continued but events were unfolding that would change the trajectory of my life forever because a small group of people at Illinois Institute of Technology, EducationUSA, the Institute of International Education, and Jusoor were working to support university students like myself whose higher education was halted by conflict. The…

Sustaining Our Dreams: the Jusoor Alumni Association

May 16, 2015 will always be a memorable day for the Joint IIT-Jusoor Initiative. It was the day where 15 Syrian youth had their graduation ceremony after a very long, challenging and interesting journey here in the United States. The program that was launched three years ago when Illinois Institute of Technology invited university students…

Music: mends our souls, heals our hearts, and enriches our minds – a remedy for my torn city of Aleppo

Music is not just an alphabet or symbols. It is not just an international language. Indeed it is very difficult to describe what music is. Music is, in my opinion, a great way to unite people, as opposed to events such as war, which divide and tear nations and peoples apart. Music can make the…

Many Voices and One Vision: For Peace

We are pleased to introduce you once again to Jong Massaquoi and share with you the words of our friend and fellow IIT student from the country of Liberia. Jong is a 4th year student in the IIT Stuart College of Business with a minor in architecture. A fellow classmate at Illinois Tech; Jong was…

Learning from the lessons of history: thoughts on a Syrian reconstruction

As we approach July 2014, few of us expected the war to continue into a fourth year; we had expected the “spring of several years ago” to be different. And while we have no clear understanding of when the war is going to end we must begin to give thought and devote our energies and…

The Syrian Phoenix: Within all of us

Through-out the human history, giving up has not been the solution for tragedies that faced societies. Passivity and surrendering does not resolve catastrophic conditions nor does it end wars and disasters that threaten the existence of people. Only those who survived to tell their stories in our present days chose to rise again and fight,…

“Hard work will always beat talent.”

We are pleased to introduce and share with you the words of Shane Samuels, a 4th year Architecture student from the island of Antigua, and a fellow classmate at Illinois Tech; as Syrians, Shane represents an IIT story – and a set of ideals and goals that we hold deeply as well, that is, a deep…

Building our thoughts: This is Why Syria Still Has a Chance.

As the conflict in Syria enters the 4th year now, people – especially children – are still suffering from the horrible crisis in their lives. They are forced to leave their homes, their history, their school and their professions – as well as the memories and lives that had been built over so many years….