AALIYA YAQUB
MARTEL• ACADEMIC
INTERESTS: PREMED, PRELAW
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Aaliya
Yaqub |
For Aaliya Yaqub, life outside the classroom typically includes
sharing her cultural heritage, being involved in decision-making
at her college, and making life better for other people. Aaliya
writes a Dr. Phil-like weekly advice column that deals with young
people’s issues for the Pakistan Link newspaper. On campus,
the sophomore has been either a member of or in leadership roles
for both the Muslim Student Association and RUZ (which means Rice
in Arabic). In fact, this semester she organized the RUZ event
Arabian Nights, which she characterizes as a “great success.” “It
was a great experience being part of the organizing team for that
event because I was able to give my input on everything from tickets
to food to entertainment,” she says. “All in all, the
event was designed to give people a taste of anything and everything
Middle Eastern. That means everything from fashion to cuisine to
music to poetry to language.” This year’s event will
probably also be remembered as the night the camels ruled the campus,
as the exotic creatures were brought in for rides throughout the
evening.
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This semester, Aaliya became an intramural sports representative
at her college, Martel. She also wrote a judicial code for the
young college. “I’ve organized a court system for college-related
matters,” she explains. “It’s really going to
have a positive impact on shaping our college community.”
As if all of this activity weren’t enough, Aaliya also finds
time to create new organizations and do volunteer work. Aaliya
helped create a new student group, Rice for UNICEF, which was given
the opportunity by concert promoter Clear Channel Communications
to conduct fundraising at a recent Pearl Jam concert. Says Aaliya, “The
whole purpose of the event, of course, was to raise money for UNICEF,
the United Nations Children’s Fund.” But, she adds, “The
experience really gave me some insight into the marketing aspect
of the entertainment industry and exactly how Clear Channel functions.
As a bonus, we attended the Pearl Jam concert, which was amazing
in itself.”
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All week, Aaliya says, she looks forward to spending Saturdays
at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “I coordinate the adult bingo
games and serve as a floor host, where I’m responsible for
an entire floor of patients. I do anything I can to make their
stay at the hospital as comfortable as possible. I also offer my
friendship. It’s been a great experience so far and definitely
an integral part of my life. The more I spend time with the patients
the more I realize exactly why I want to go into the medical field.
I love the human aspect of my job.”
Aaliya’s volunteer work and leadership have provided her
with an added bonus. She won the Rotary International Community
Service scholarship and an all-around scholarship from Target,
which also rewards community service. Aaliya jokes that her mother
says it’s about time Target gave her some money since another
of Aaliya’s many interests is shopping, shopping, shopping.
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