My name is Bilal el Assadi and I am studying mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University in Qatar, where I have a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation. I have just started my 2nd semester. The first semester was really special and we all (the Palestinian students sponsored by ULYP), got to enjoy our time and scored really high grades.
I have a large friendship group, mostly Palestinians coming from Lebanon. We often stay together and help each other through the class process, and offer advice to each other when needed. One of the most important events that we have participated in is the “HBKU Football World Cup Tournament”. We participated in the competition as the “Palestinian team”, and most of us knew how to play well – we were determined to win this championship!
Our team was made up of ten players: six main players playing on-court (of which I was one) and four substitutes. Out of these ten, there were four ULYP students, including myself. I was the only freshmen among them. The others were two sophomore students from Texas A&M: Hassan Moussa, studying mechanical engineering, and Abdul Salam, studying petroleum engineering, who played as goal keeper. The fourth ULYP player was Abd el-Karim Khattab, who is studying business administration at Carnegie Mellon University.
We didn’t win the whole competition, although we won a couple of matches. Our performance was good but not enough to bring us victory. The thing we enjoyed most about the tournament was playing together and acting as one unit to improve our team skills.
I’d like to mention that I have a lot of thoughts and ambitions for my life. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a football player. But after I grew up, I decided to keep football as a hobby and a beneficial sport, and to put all my efforts into education. Now, I dream of becoming a successful engineer who can innovate and create to serve my community and my people. Also, I would like to thank Mrs. Melek and the ULYP office members for helping me to choose the right place for me to get the knowledge I need to accomplish my dreams.
ULYP News 