I am a rising senior at Tufts University pursuing a degree in International Relations and Arabic. I was born in Northern California, raised for the most part in Washington, D.C., but moved around a lot between the two, having lived in 13 houses by the time I graduated high school. Not quite ready to settle in one place for college, I took a gap year to move to Rabat, Morocco where I took language classes, lived with a host family, and volunteered to teach English, until COVID hit, forcing me to return home. Having played soccer my whole life, it wasn’t until one afternoon in a back alley of Marrakech when I stumbled upon a group of kids kicking around a soccer ball that I understood the extent of the global nature of the game and its ability to bring any two humans together. Since then, I have been interested in conflict resolution and the advancement of women’s rights through sports.
On campus, I am President of the Middle East Research Group (MERG) under the IGL and serve as captain of the Tufts University Women’s Football Club. With MERG I traveled to Cyprus to conduct research on education policies for refugee children. Additionally, I helped put on symposiums on Freedom of The Press and the United States’ pullout of Afghanistan, along with smaller panels and weekly current events discussions.
I just finished a semester at the University of Jordan on a full immersion program where I took classes, explored the country, and volunteered at Squash Dreamers, an organization that provides the opportunity for young refugee girls to play squash and learn English. I am currently an Oslo Scholar, working for the Centre for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies, completing weekly country reports and researching fundraising strategies for global pro-democracy movements. Through the scholar’s program, I was able to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway this June, connecting with activists and dissidents from around the world.
I was connected with Sherman through Grace Spalding-Fecher, a recent Tufts alumni and former Trebuchet intern. I am honored to be a part of this community and excited to work with Sherman and the rest of the Trebuchet team on our many overlapping interests.