A. Ray Olpin University Union

Amr receiving his Union Student Leader Scholarship at the 2016 Union Scholarship Celebration.

Awarded a Union Student Leader scholarship in March 2016, Amr Mohamed discusses how the scholarship not only allowed him pursue multiple student leadership roles, but also influenced him personally. This allowed him to gain success as a current research assistant and PhD candidate. Amr was involved in the international and scholar services department in the Union building as an international ambassador. In his role, Amr helped international students with their new student orientation, being an international student himself. Amr also worked as a communication coordinators in ASUU to help put on the annual blood drive, as well as finishing up his last requirements in the ULEAD program in the office of Student Leadership & Involvement. Paired with this, when Amr received the scholarship, he was also the Vice President of the Muslim Student Association and working in the Salt Lake City community as a Sunday school teacher for a local Muslim community center.

Amr’s most recent work has been being a panelist for a Hinckley Institute forum, increasing awareness for Muslim students and correcting misconceptions about the Muslim population, and holding the office of Treasurer for the International Night that took place on November 18th at the Union. Acting as the acting president of the Muslin Student Association, Amr also mentioned the new meditation space in the Union building that he was involved in the formation of. “The Union reached out to me during renovation plans to have a space designated for student and I attended meeting with the Union director, the ASUU president, the UPC executive director, and several other people from engineering companies to talk about the details of the room and what it would look like.”

Being relieved of some of the financial stress of attending the University of Utah aided by the Union scholarship, Amr was allowed to focus more on obtaining his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering. “It was cool because after I got the scholarship, I was on the front page of the UPC publication for 2016,” Amr commented. Being so heavily involved in the Union building and being a student leader, Amr was elected to the 2016 Homecoming Court. Personally, the Union Student Leadership scholarship has positively influenced Amr to an extreme degree. “It has a huge effect, more than one can imagine. I can speak forever about the impact that it had on me,” Amr said. “It was the first ever scholarship that I ever received from my involvement in anything, being involved at the U since my first day.” Amr also commented that the scholarship had a huge impact on his family, his wife and daughter, as well as the students he works with. “I transferred the positive impact to the new international students. I am a graduate panelist for international student orientation. I got the chance to talk to more than 700 international students and share my story of receiving the scholarship and promoting the importance of involvement within the Union.” Amr says that the advice he would give to other individuals who are interested in applying for the Union Student Leader scholarship is to get involved in multiple offices within the union and also perform service opportunities. “Take the initiative and find your personal motivation to go and do it yourself. That is the true meaning of being a leader and to make positive change.”

When asked about how the Union plays into student development, Amr commented, “My hopes for the Union building is to keep the high frequency of events that we see everyday and the wonderful work that is being conducted in the various offices and with UPC. I feel like this is the ultimate experience for any new or current students on campus.” Amr continued to speak highly of his involvement with the Union and the impact his involvement within the building had on him. Amr concluded with, “I am so grateful for the Union building for awarding me the scholarship. It was my happiest moment throughout my whole student career when I won and I was grateful to even be considered.”

– By Blake Bratcher