Sharing thoughts

Dear readers, the post you are trying to read is not available … here. But it’s available somewhere else.

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Here: Days in UK 1

Here: Days in UK 2

and Here: Days in UK 3

Hehe, thanks for reading! 🙂

So I graduated but KAUST is still not there…. What to do? Well KAUST offered us several exciting options like studying abroad for a year, working for some time as interns, or taking courses. I chose to get some real world technical experience by working as an intern. The big question to me was WHERE?

Based on some reasons, the most appropriate option was Saudi Aramco. I got a 6-month internship. At first, I thought it will be a boring internship because I will do nothing other than data entry or easy tasks like most interns do.

BUT, it turned out to be one of the most useful technical experiences I have ever gained. I worked in the department called EXPEC ARC which focuses heavily on research and development. My task (which I won’t bore you with its details) was basically about databases and programming using C++, and QT.

Another major thing that made this internship special was the team I worked with. It was a group of highly qualified experts who helped me a lot and were nothing but nice and friendly. When I finished, they made a small goodbye party for me with some gifts .. you don’t get that kind of team everyday ..do you?

Lastly, it was very nice to work with the theater group in Aramco as the guy responsible for sounds in the play. We had the customized version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and it turned out to be a great play.

It is not easy to pack everything happened in 6 months in one small post, but I here are the quick highlights of my time at ARAMCO

–          Friendly and experienced people to work with

–          Technically challenging environment (at least the one I had, no idea about other departments)

–          Good entertainment facilities

–          Great housing (I have to admit that I was spoiled by staying at ARAMCO hotel)

–          The great hot boiling humid weather   -_-

–          The good theater experience

–          And of course, most importantly.. I lost weight 😀

Overall, I am thankful for the opportunity that was given to me by KAUST and Saudi Aramco.

p.s: if you have no idea what the heck is going on here, or why I am writing this post .. please refer to this post .. it might explain something

People might be asking: what is KAUST? Why are you writing about your “journey”? Isn’t it just another student having master’s degree from a university?

Well first, KAUST is King Abduallah University of Science and Technology. If you want to know all the details about this school, just check the website www.kaust.edu.sa

Now, my journey might seem like a normal one for an outsider. Nevertheless, it’s anything but normal to me.

When I was an undergraduate student at King Fahd University, I made up my mind that I will never go for masters. The only thing in my head was getting a job. Out of nowhere, I received an email from our department’s chair inviting me to check out the new yet-to-be-built university, KAUST.  I went there with absolutely no intention in enrolling in this school or any other school. It’s funny how little things can change your mind 180 degrees. I read the vision, and the dream of KAUST which planted in me the idea of joining this new entity.

I thought not once, but twice before reading the contract and after reading it, the seed in my mind grew to be a more welcomed option. Since you can never get everyone to support or discourage anything in your life, I knew that I have to make the final call. And guess what? … The guy who hated everything about grad schools, is joining KAUST.

Skeptical you say? Yes I was definitely skeptical. Maybe it’s a curse, if you like, that I am adventurous and I would love to try new things in life. I thought, hmmm, it can not get bigger than a new world-class university. And there it was, my first interaction with KAUST. I can proudly say, I am among the very first group of students who joined KAUST.

Phew, looking back in time I can only say .. man, it was a heck of a ride. We had great, in fact amazing group of people in our corner to help us, support us, and solve our problems and issues since day one. One of these people is Mrs. Iffat Saadeh who helped me in literally everything all the way.

Where do I start? My amazing and rich time at ARAMCO? My wonderful time in UK? The spectacular year and half at KAUST itself?  Or the outstanding summer time in US?

I am going to make an individual post for each one of those, and to me, the memories and moments I had during the last 2 years are truly priceless. Stay tuned!!

Hello everyone.

Voluntary work is a very essential aspect of civilized nations. Through voluntary work societies will develop and more objectives will be achieved. I started my article with these sentences because the organization I am talking about today is all about Volunteering.

One day, I was making a small research on Nabulsi family and trying to find useful information. To be honest I can’t exactly remember how I ended up looking at Nabulsi members in this website http://www.tigweb.org/. I read about it and then my story with TakingITGlobal started.

TakingITGlobal has an interesting vision that made me considering working with them. In simple words, they try to make education accessible by everyone especially young people. The very first basic idea, as the name suggests, they were trying to take the IT globally to the whole world no matter how poor or far you are. The vision then expanded to take all different knowledge fields under its wing. It is a non-profitable organization and anyone can join and work with them. The work goes beyond just being online. TIG has a lot of volunteers all over the world who are working very hard and patiently to achieve the peaceful goal of TIG. There are teachers, programmers, designers, translators, trainers, and many other types of professionals.

My work with TIG so far is only concerned with Arabic-English and English-Arabic translation. I signed up with them after I read about the vision and achievements in the website. They have a well organized structure that’s meant to only make things work in the right way not to complicate life. I read that if you like to join, you are to send an email to the volunteer coordinator assigned for your area. Mine at that time was Mrs. Tala Nabulsi (Interesting that we have the same last name), so I sent her an email expressing my intentions to be a volunteer with TIG. She was very kind and welcoming and redirected me to the regional coordinator Mr. Maged Hassan. We had a nice chat over Skype that he explained to me translators’ roles and tasks and what they are expected to do. Maged, and all TIG members in general, was very nice and friendly and he let me choose what I prefer to do after explaining what TIG needs at that moment. I had a great honor working wish such an educated open minded friend. Following that online meeting, work was well organized with emails every month including the tasks and expected contribution to the organization. I have been translating for 3 years now more or less. I am still working with TIG, and my translated articles vary between IT, health, public awareness, cultures, and many other topics.

I advise every passionate educated person to participate and take an action for the greater good. We all want to make the world in general and our communities in specific a better place. One easy and efficient step is to join and work with TIG. As I said, what attracted me to TIG was the potential behind the main goal.

Save few minutes of your day, check http://www.tigweb.org/ and who knows, maybe you will like it and join our volunteering friendly committee. They have many interesting projects and events, not only translation. It’s a pool of great chances for us to do something good. TIG brought hope to many people around the globe. Join now and help in changing someone’s life.

For more information about the mission, vision, why to join, and other details:

http://www.tigweb.org/about/

Thanks.