Celine Bernadette George

Celine started out as an Accounting & Finance Freshman, but is now a Mechanical Engineering Junior. She loves traveling, especially on boats and airplanes, and is now discovering the adventures of driving a manual car. She's in love with Palestine and Spain and longs to be in both those places again. She has been living in Dubai for about 20 years and cannot believe how awful the traffic has become. She likes helping others with English essays (and Math problems), and so looks forward to her third semester at the Writing Centre.

Nada Selim

Nada is a senior student at AUS, majoring in Marketing and Management.

She is very passionate about Marketing and wishes to pursue a Masters degree in Brand Management. Nada enjoys diversity in everything. She listens to all kinds of music, from Um Kalthoum to Lady Gaga. She admires multilingualism and plans to continue learning French after graduation. She also loves traveling, parasailing, fiddling with Photoshop and Illustrator, watching The Big Bang Theory, and most importantly enjoying some quiet time. When it comes to writing, Nada believes Mark Twain could not have been more right when he said “what gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so".

Shaheen Khoja

Shaheen is currently a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering. Originally Indian, she has lived almost all her life in a small African country called Burundi. Like any Taurus, she is calm, patient and a good listener. In her free-time, you can find her in the Student Center, hanging out with friends, or in the Sports Complex, playing table tennis. This is her first semester in the Writing Center, which she hopes will be an exciting and fun experience.

Erini Fahim

Erini is a Junior at AUS majoring is Visual Communications. She is originally from Egypt but was born and raised in Dubai. She enjoys reading, watching movies, and hibernating in her studio. She has been a Writing Fellow for three semesters and is looking forward to working at the Writing Center.

Feras Ahmed

Feras is a sophomore student majoring in Finance.  Feras would like to expand his knowledge over a range of subjects, so he makes the most of his power to choose free electives.  Feras is a rock climbing instructor and a frequent traveler.  There are no uneventful holidays as he can be found camping in the mountains of Oman over a weekend, throwing a Frisbee on the beaches of Thailand over the winter break, or back packing between the cities of Europe over a two month summer vacation.  His love of travel is coupled with an open-mined view of life and an impulse to query, search, experience, and express.

Wahiba Naeem

Wahiba is currently a Junior in the American University of Sharjah and is majoring in Mass Communications with a concentration in Journalism. She loves to read, her favourite genre being historical fiction. She enjoys swimming and loves anything to do with water. She dreams of visiting and exploring all the historical relics in Rome, Paris, Scotland and Spain.  She loves to write and one of her missions in life is to become a celebrated author.

Raghad Tayeh

Raghad is a junior at AUS, pursuing her studies in the exciting fields of Journalism and Public Relations.  She is originally Palestinian, but has spent the majority of her life in Canada. She enjoys reading and spending time with her friends. The key to her happiness is chocolate; she truly believes it is medicine for the soul.  She hopes to change the world for the better, one grammar mistake at a time.

Alexandra Chaves

Alexandra is a senior student majoring in English literature. She's been living in Dubai for nearly ten years now. Her interests include literature, human evolution, classic films, and writing. She considers the Writing Center one of the most important and energetic places in the university. She is happy to be a tutor and enjoys helping students think and write.

Pashma Manglani

Pashma is a junior at AUS majoring in Journalism and International Relations. She was born in Hong Kong, and then moved around to India, the U.S., finally landing here in Sharjah. Being an only child has taught her to be a listener (and according to some, a bit brattish), and she hopes to put this to use while tutoring this semester. In her free time she enjoys writing, chatting on the phone, listening to music, and of course, reading.

Sahar Soomro

Sahar is a sophomore with a major in Mass Communication and a minor in International Relation. She is from Pakistan and has come to the American University of Sharjah to acquire her undergrad degree. She plans to finish her degree and return to her home country to give the civil service exam and pursue a career in the Pakistan civil services. She hopes to be an important politician one day. She enjoys spending time with her parents and her close friends and debating with them on various topics. She likes spending her free time reading all kinds of books and watching artsy movies. Psychology fascinates her and she wishes she could have been a psychiatrist but chemistry and physics are just not her cup of tea. She believes in making a difference and serving her country. She loves helping everyone around and working at the Writing Center is a great opportunity to do this.

Sana Ayesha Arshad

Sana is a third-year Journalism and Public Relations student, who’s also doing a minor in Psychology. Given the chance to start over, she would have also majored in Psychology, INS, and English Literature. She likes searching for intellectual people, and is considering making it her life’s purpose to campaign for this rare and almost-extinct species. An insomniac by nature, Sana loves creating fictional people in her mind and having them play out stories exclusively for her. Though it’s usually Oscar-deserving stuff, she’s too lazy and possessive to share her stories with the rest of the cogs. This is her first semester working at the WC.

Sana Kazilbash

Sara is a junior, majoring in advertising but would give an arm and a leg to go into the performing arts. Other than that, she dreams about publishing a fantasy book and becoming the next J.K Rowling (and not Stephanie Meyer), making funny advertisements, gaining super-powers, and dancing in the middle of the library. She is also passionate about rock music, world news and the Simpsons. This is her first semester working at the Writing Center, and she is looking forward to helping out future great writers.    

Naveena Sadasivam

Naveena is a sophomore at AUS. Although she is studying Chemical Engineering, she feels she would have fared better in English literature. She is originally from India but has lived in the UAE for most of her life. Her greatest moment was when she met the ex-president A.P.J Abdul Kalam.  A perfectionist and chocoholic at heart, she enjoys ice skating, the smell after it rains, travelling, reading classics, watching sitcoms and has a fetish for stationery. Her current obsession is The Big Bang Theory.

Fadi Soma

Fadi is a junior student majoring in finance. Fadi is from Aleppo, Syria, even though many have argued the validity of that statement. He was born and raised in Dubai, so he’s one of the few elites that have witnessed the beautification of Dubai first hand. He enjoys reading in his free time, shredding on his guitar, and listening to loud (deafening) music. He is an avid World of Warcraft player, regardless of the fact that it has dominated his soul, and is occasionally found on general chat imposing the law on desecrators of the English language and promoting higher standards of English in in-game chat. His favorite books of all time are “All Quiet on the Western Front,” by Erich Maria Remarque and “At the Mountains of Madness,” by Howard Phillips Lovecraft; his favorite poem is “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Belinda D'Souza

Belinda is a junior and intends on majoring in Architecture, if she manages to live through the five year course. She hails from Goa, India but was born and brought up in Dubai. She enjoys all sports, in particular, swimming and badminton. She hopes to contribute to the wonderful job her fellow tutors have accomplished in making the Writing Center a success.

Michelle Dias

Michelle is currently majoring in Finance and Economics and hopes to be a CFO of a major firm when she grows up. Other than reading, her hobbies include swimming, ice skating and meeting new people. This is her first semester at the Writing Center and she’s excited and enthusiastic about the experience

Dil Afroz Rosa

Dil studies Chemical Engineering, but plans to become a playwright someday. When she's not doodling in her classes, you can probably find her thinking of another plot that would most likely end up in the dumpster. However, she is not someone who gives up; no siree! She keeps planning, pondering and hence generously contributing to the plot-pool of the writer-kind. Oh, and she loves Calculus; she always thought he was the real hero in TinTin.

Sadaf Ahmad

Sadaf will graduate with Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature, a choice that had to survive great opposition. In her spare time, she likes to play tennis, read, write, draw sketches and practice calligraphy and ornamentation. She’s not fond of travelling but cannot resist two places on earth: Medina and Kashmir. She hopes to work in the Islamic department of an auction house or a museum after graduation to find an answer to the question:“What is Islamic art?” At the moment, she’s struggling with learning modern standard Arabic and looks forward to her new experience at the Writing Center.  

Eva Fernandes

Eva is a senior, majoring in Journalism, Mass Communication. Given the chance, she would probably major in philosophy, political science, film studies and English literature. Spring 2009 is her second semester in the Writing Center as a tutor, but she has spent numerous hours in the Writing Center in previous semesters as a student. She loves sleeping, conversations, thinking, watching E-Junior, Ella Fitzgerald, spinning on swivel chairs, financial independence, grass, pulling the tongues of cats while they yawn, and rain.

Raana Qazi

Raana’s major is Chemical Engineering and her interests include listening to loud music (particularly rock) - which could explain why she’s so hard of hearing- and reading-which explains her rapidly deteriorating eyesight. She loves sports (participating, not watching) and has a convoluted sense of humor.

Priyanka Rajagopal

Priyanka is a sophomore at AUS majoring in Marketing. She enjoys music, movies and travelling, and also likes reading pretty much anything- from books and blogs to the backs of cereal boxes and shampoo bottles. She loves badminton and award shows, especially those hosted by Ellen DeGeneres or Neil Patrick Harris. She has a great love for everything related to chocolate and likes collecting coins and flags. Priyanka can be found in big malls (or the Writing Center!) when free from academia.

Sarah Sheikh

Sarah is a sophomore majoring in Finance, even though she hates math and loves writing and art. She is originally from Pakistan but was born and has spent all her life in Dubai. You will find her frequently peppering her English with Arabic words she has picked up when in conversation with friends. She enjoys having intellectual debates and watching documentaries.  This is her first time working at the Writing Center, and she looks forward to a great experience there.

Shamma Salah Alqassir

Shamma is a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering. She is from Dubai and loves everything about that glamorous city to bits. Travelling and visiting new and exciting places are some of Shamma’s favorite things to do when taking a vacation. During her free time, Shamma loves watching TV shows and movies, eating, reading, and playing on her brother’s Nintendo Wii. She also really likes popcorn. This is her first semester as a tutor in the Writing Center.

Maria Eleftheriou

Maria is director of the AUS Writing Center and a full-time instructor in the Department of Writing Studies. She has a Masters from McGill University in Curriculum and Instruction and is working on a Doctorate of Education at Leicester University. With a background in rhetoric and composition, she consults with students and is available to meet with faculty members who have questions about incorporating writing effectively in their courses. She is also responsible for administering the Center, training the writing center staff, and organizing writing workshops for students