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Being in the Georgetown Qatar community opens up many different opportunities and hobbies for students to take up. One of the biggest ones? Student clubs and organizations at GU-Q have made my out-of-class experience meaningful – and allowed me to find a true sense of community & belonging.
I first met Nagla Abdelhady (SFS’25) when she was my orientation advisor during Hoya Welcome Week. Her enthusiasm and energy helped me adjust quickly. While my friendship with Nagla took a while to grow, it was hard to escape her on campus. Whether it be her messages on group chats during her time as the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Public Relations Officer, or seeing her in MUN training when she she was the Secretary General.
After 14 weeks of classes, midterms, and assignments, we are beginning to wind down the Spring 2025 semester. I started this semester with unbridled enthusiasm, especially in choosing classes aligned with my major. Now, 14 weeks later, I am left with a sense of accomplishment and perhaps some subdued excitement.
One adventure at a time. That’s basically how I live my life, not just in general, but especially here at Georgetown. For almost three years now, I’ve been organizing Iktashif Qatar trips, and let me tell you, they’ve been some of the most rewarding adventures I’ve had the chance to lead as a student employee.
When I first arrived at GU-Q, there was one academic requirement I was secretly dreading: Language Proficiency. Having grown up a native speaker of Arabic and having studied it for 12 years, it was the natural choice for me to pursue my proficiency in Arabic. Up until that point, Arabic classes had always felt like a mere checkbox on my educational to-do list. The thought of enduring this once more in university was less than appealing.
Experiencing Ramadan as a Desert Hoya is something I’ll never stop being in awe of. The moment the month arrived at GU-Q, I felt the shift in the air- literally and spiritually. One day, it was just a regular university with everyone speed-walking to class, and the next, BOOM. Fairy lights, lanterns, and a magical transformation that didn’t just acknowledge Ramadan; but embraced it.
When I was a first year student, I used to worry that my academic interests were too scattered to fit neatly into the structured world of university research. It wasn’t about the variety of academic opportunities offered at Georgetown, rather the uncertainty of how to navigate them from an interdisciplinary point of view. Even so, I wasn’t sure whether these interests would translate into tangible opportunities.
Travel has always been one of the most powerful ways to learn about history, about the world, and about ourselves. There’s something deeply transformative about stepping into a place shaped by a history different from our own, immersing ourselves in its culture, and seeing firsthand the realities we’ve only encountered in books or lectures. That is why I have come to love traveling, not just as a hobby, but as a way to grow.
Four years ago, I made a decision that changed my life. Leaving my high school in South Africa, I took a leap of faith to pursue a degree in International Politics at Georgetown University in Qatar. Today, as I count down the final 100 days to graduation, I find myself reflecting on how this journey has reshaped my worldview, career aspirations, and sense of purpose.
Riwaj Khatiwada (SFS’25), a senior at Georgetown University in Qatar has forged a unique path for himself during his undergraduate career. Graduating in May 2025, his journey has been shaped by analytical rigor, curiosity, and a deep interest in the intersection of International Economics (IECO) and Math: his major and minor.
