International Education Week<\/a>, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\nAbdawani connected with UToledo via a government scholarship program in Oman, which matches students with higher education institutions in and out of the country based on their academic program preferences and grades. Abdawani hoped for placement based on her top choice, respiratory care, and was pleased to ultimately enroll at UToledo beginning in January 2020.<\/p>\n
At the time she was among the first students Oman had sent to UToledo. Today she\u2019s one of more than 30 Omanis, and president of the newly organized Omani Student Association. The organization is set to host their first major event celebrating Oman\u2019s National Day on Saturday, Nov. 18.<\/p>\n
She and seven other students from her country began their journeys at UToledo in the American Language Institute (ALI), which provides intensive English training to students, scholars and area residents. For Abdawani, who had already passed the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Oman, it wasn\u2019t the language instruction that proved most helpful, although she did pick up some helpful nuances of the language as it\u2019s spoken colloquially.<\/p>\n
She instead credits the institute with easing her transition to life in the United States, and remaining a resource well after she graduated to begin her academic program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staff there have been like a family to us,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir doors are always open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Ting Li is the curriculum coordinator and an instructor for the American Language Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cNarjis has always been an outstanding student since she started at UToledo in 2020,\u201d she said. \u201cNot only does she excel in her studies, Narjis also demonstrates strong leadership skills through serving on the ALI Student Council and becoming one of our student workers after graduation. As her teacher and advisor, I\u2019m always so proud of her achievement every step of the way. Narjis is truly a role model for other students. I cannot wait to see her shine more in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Abdawani and her companions were adjusting to day-to-day life in the United States, the coronavirus pandemic upended day-to-day life for everyone. She and her cohort headed back to Oman by March 2020 and continued to take most of their classes online even when they returned to campus that August. But as she closes in on graduation in the spring, campus life is looking a bit more like what she had expected as a newly arrived freshman.<\/p>\n
Among the highlights has been the International Dinner, or I-Dinner, organized annually by the International Students Association. It features food and performances reflecting a wide variety of countries and cultures. Abdawani assisted in the food and marketing committee last year.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also enjoying the course of study she\u2019s chosen, a feeling that\u2019s only been bolstered by her hands-on experience at UTMC. She\u2019s been working at least two 12-hour shifts each month as a respiratory therapist student since February.<\/p>\n
Abdawani said she\u2019s eager to continue learning after graduation, and to eventually take the skills she\u2019s honed back to the hospitals and healthcare facilities in Oman.<\/p>\n
Dr. Zakaria Alyousif, an assistant professor in the respiratory care program, said he anticipates a bright future for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNarjis has truly proved herself as a leader and so much more,\u201d he said. \u201cSince I have known her, she has shown me a true heart for other people and a passion to do what is right, which is reflected in her strong desire to be a respiratory therapist and her kind words to everyone she meets.<\/p>\n
\u201cMentally and physically, Narjis takes every challenge and pushes it to make her a better person. She is a very hard worker, and her mental capacity for challenging situations is 10 times greater.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Narjis-Abdawani-SIDE-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Senior Narjis Abdawani is one of the more than 1,400 international undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UToledo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":83202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,61,356,1,7,63],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83201"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83204,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83201\/revisions\/83204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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