Experience

My Journey at LAU

Jason Michael Sakr ’22

In 2018, I started my undergraduate years with two goals in mind: to complete a double major and to find myself. Little did I know at the time that I would reach far beyond those two goals at LAU.

On top of my academic work, I joined the LAU simulation programs as part of the logistics team, having participated in those programs in high school. It was a fun, tiring, and fulfilling experience that stretched over my first two years at university. It taught me how to get my message across better, and to connect with others whom I’m happy to call my friends.

My second year came with several redefining events personally, nationally and globally. First, I started tutoring other students in Calculus 3, as a productive way to spend my time. Though I did not know the course outcomes for many students I had tutored, in spring 2022, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a classmate in a math course had been inspired to switch majors from engineering to mathematics.

As the October 17 uprising challenged the status quo, and the COVID-19 pandemic went out in full force, my adaptability and discipline were put to test. We moved to online course delivery during 2020–2021, and I was adamant to stay focused on my coursework, taking a full load of 18 credits of major courses for both semesters. It was a very exhausting experience to say the least, but it was necessary to finish on time and comfortably in four  years. This was a year that fully tested my patience with the online learning method and all the problems that came with it, mostly from living in a country with an unstable infrastructure. This was undeniably the hardest year of my studies at the university.

My last year was filled with electives and liberal arts courses, so I managed to earn some more free time to join the Consulting Club, where I made new friends, expanded my knowledge, and refined my skill set in preparation for graduation.

To say that there was one memorable event would be a disservice to what LAU was and is to me. While my undergraduate experience might not have been the most eventful, every experience and every year at LAU built on the last and brought me where I am today.

It took one event, one project, one team presentation or paper after another to bring me where I am today: a recipient of the President’s Award, a graduate student at Concordia University, and a person who is confident of his abilities.

Much like how Hogwarts helps those who ask for it, LAU helps those who are open to it, so to all the freshmen and sophomores coming into the university: try everything, do everything, don’t leave something you’re thinking about in the back of your mind, go to the gym, apply for that international exchange program, ask your advisor questions about your career path, network, make friends, join that club, and whatever you do, don’t feel like you shouldn’t because your norms tell you otherwise. Get out of that comfort zone, open your mind to the new and the different and enjoy the fruits of that endeavor.