Maysoon Obeid excelled in her IB (International Baccalaureate) studies at Justice High School in Falls Church, Va. A well-rounded student, she loves math as much as she loves philosophy. Her grades earned her a spot in the University Honors program.
Her goal is medical school, with an even longer-term goal of improving the health care system through innovation and science. A degree in biomedical engineering, Obeid believes, will set her on a path to achieve her goals.
She chose Catholic University for the academic reputation of the School of Engineering and the many internship opportunities in Washington, D.C. She had another, less obvious, reason for choosing the University. “As a practicing Muslim, I’ve spent my life around people just like me,” says Obeid, who is an avid volunteer at her mosque teaching Islamic studies to children. “I want to be exposed to people who are different from me — to get to know them and learn about their faith. And I’d like to be a good example that might help people see me and not the often negative stereotypes of Muslims portrayed in the media.”
In her college essay, she detailed an act of advocacy. “In junior year, we read a series of books aimed at teaching students about different cultures and countries,” she explained. “We read about people in places like South Africa, China, and the Dominican Republic, who were all portrayed favorably. The book about Iran was openly Islamophobic. It was an extremist, negative portrayal of the people. If this was supposed to represent me, it was not accurate. And then I thought about all the students for whom this might be their first introduction to Islam.”
After a year of lobbying her principal and the school board, Obeid was able to get a new book introduced into the curriculum at her high school.
At Catholic University, Obeid hopes to form a Muslim student organization. The club would be focused on tolerance, appreciating differences, and perhaps most important, “finding our similarities
as people.”
