Celebrating the Class of Spring 2025

Bismillah. As Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

Good morning, Your Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of our university; esteemed members of the Board of Trustees; our Chancellor Dr. Tod Laursen; Interim Provost Dr. Mohamed El Tarhuni; respected faculty and staff; beloved families; distinguished guests; and most importantly, my fellow graduates—the Class of Spring 2025.

My name is Ahmed Ayman Ahmed, and I’m happy to report that all the grades I was too embarrassed to tell my parents about over the last four years were not the end of the world after all. As it turns out, we still made it to this stage and it was worth it. 

There is an old saying, sometimes used as a joke: “May you live in interesting times.” 

Interesting times are rarely filled with peace and quiet. Instead, they are often times of change, uncertainty and adaptation. If there’s one phrase that perfectly sums up the journey of the graduating Class of 2025—it is that we lived through very interesting times.

We watched the world around us change radically, and I think we may be the last batch in the history of AUS that remembers a time before artificial intelligence was a present guest in every lecture hall. 

We met the trials of these times—not just by surviving, but by excelling through them. Despite walking down challenging roads, we all shared one truth: We proved ourselves in spite of all challenges. 

For me, one of those challenges was grappling with the fact that, while I was dreading deadlines and submissions, numerous cousins, friends and relatives back home in Sudan and other conflict-stricken regions of the world had their educational journeys cut short by circumstances far beyond their control. 

We all know someone–a family member, a friend or a peer–who was deprived, for one reason or another, of the blessing of continuous education. So, on a day like this, where we celebrate a milestone in our journey with AUS, we should remember them, and recall that education is both a privilege and a responsibility—a responsibility to reflect on what we’ve been given, to excel in what we do and to use it for something greater than ourselves.

Despite our diverse interests, backgrounds and majors, I hope that every person on this stage has learned three powerful lessons in the interesting times we spent at AUS. 

The first lesson is that hard work…pays off. I remember a story the greatest teacher I ever had once told me and my classmates. When he first began teaching in the UAE, his first batch of students was average–except for eight students. He recalled four students who always sat in the front, asking questions, engaging in discussions, and four students who sat in the back, engaging with sophisticated technology in the form of YouTube videos. Years later, the four students in the front had become businessmen, CEOs and advisors to ministers, but he could not recall what became of the four in the back. 

The lesson? There really is no substitute for hard work. The fact that we are all here proudly holding degrees in different academic fields is a testament to the idea that hard work is always justly compensated. All of those sleepless nights amounted to an achievement and all of our desperate prayers were answered. 

As one of my mentors once told me:

اللي يبغى يصير، بيصير

Whoever wants to make something of themselves will do just that. 

The second lesson is that no matter how hard we work, we can’t make it alone.

There were moments, countless moments, when each of us doubted ourselves. Yet, if we look to our right, our left or toward the audience, we’ll find someone who believed in us even when we didn’t believe in ourselves. Without the unwavering support of our parents, the mentorship of our professors and the university’s staff and the friendships we built in these halls, none of us would be here today. No one described this sentiment better than Rumi, who reminds us: “You were born with wings, why do you prefer to crawl? Rise with the wind but know that it is the flock that carries you.” 

Just as we saw the world around us changing, we watched our university seize opportunities to adapt and prepare for a dynamic future under the Presidency of Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour, whose vision, in her own words, reminds us of the power of “curiosity, experimentation and the limitless potential of new ideas.” 

And this brings me to the third and most important lesson of all: we must give back. Just as others believed in us, we must believe in others and just as others lifted us, we must lift others. 

I’m honored to share this stage with some of the most brilliant and hard-working people that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Some of us will redefine industries, others will create incredible art and others still will shape the minds of future generations. The question is not whether we will succeed, but whom we will bring with us along the way by giving back to this community that gave us so much.    

I speak from experience when I say that being denied an education is one of the greatest injustices a person can suffer. Being blessed with the ability to pursue my degree in economics at AUS became a near-infinite source of motivation whenever I thought about numerous loved ones back home for whom the word “future” evokes fear and uncertainty. In fact, I have many brilliant friends on this stage who were endlessly grateful for the ability to come to university every day due to the generosity of alumni.  

We have a responsibility to ensure that this cycle of giving does not stop with us but grows greater and more generous with our contribution. 

I had the humble pleasure of sharing the three greatest lessons I learned over four years, and hundreds of hours spent in lecture halls with you all. Should we keep these lessons close to our hearts–working hard, being grateful to everyone who helped along the way, and never forgetting to give back–then no matter how uncertain the future may seem, I have no doubt that each one of us will excel in the interesting times to come. 

After all, excellence is not out of the ordinary for AUS. It’s a tradition cultivated through the years. “We strive for excellence in all that we do, for we believe that through excellence we can build a brighter future.” These are the words of our founder and father, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Sharjah, who planted the seed that Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour is proudly nurturing. 

So, my fellow graduates of the Class of 2025, work hard, honor those who carried you and never forget to carry others in return. 

May AUS remain forever the crucible where our dreams were forged, and a second home that lives in our hearts wherever we go.

Now, we look onward. Our journey has only just begun.

Congratulations, Class of 2025.

Ahmed Ayman Ahmed graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

Bismillah Al Rahman Al Rahim. 

All praise be to God, whose mercy shapes both the paths we choose and the paths that choose us. 

Your Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of American University of Sharjah; esteemed members of the Board of Trustees; our respected Chancellor, Dr. Tod Laursen; Interim Provost Dr. Mohamed Tarhuni; the dedicated faculty and staff who shaped our thinking; our ever-supportive parents; distinguished guests; and, most importantly, my fellow graduates of Spring 2025—Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. 

Every so often, a moment arrives that reminds us of who we are, what we have built, and what we are capable of becoming. Today is one of those moments. This is not just a ceremony. It is not just a celebration of academic success. It is a confirmation of something far greater—that we, the graduates of AUS—are meant for more. 

AUS is no ordinary institution, and we are no ordinary graduates. We leave this university not just with degrees, but with a mindset—a drive to create, to challenge and to lead. This is what sets us apart. However, being meant for more does not come without challenges. It is not something handed to us—it is something we must claim. I learned that firsthand, in one of the most defining moments of my AUS journey.

In a small interview room, sitting across from a panel of professors, I interviewed for the Sheikh Khalifa Scholarship. That room was more than just a test of my qualifications, it was a test of my belief in myself and a test of what AUS prepared me for. My heart raced, my thoughts clashed and, for a split second, I wondered if I even belonged there. 

“Am I ready?” That’s the question I asked myself as I looked at the faces in front of me, but that’s the thing about being an AUS student. You don’t wait for the world to hand you confidence—you build it here. The professors who challenged us, the debates that forced us to defend our ideas, the projects that tested our limits—everything at AUS had led to that moment. This university did not just give me knowledge, it taught me to navigate uncertainty with confidence. 

And yet, as I sat in that chair, the question still lingered: “Am I ready?” Then, I realized something: AUS never just hands you opportunities, it demands that you rise to meet them. At that moment, I had two choices: to let doubt define me or to believe that I had already been prepared for more… because that is what AUS does—it pushes you forward, even when you're unsure. It puts you in rooms where you must prove your worth, not because it doubts you, but because it knows you can. This is what it means to be an AUS graduate. Not waiting for permission, not hoping to be ready but stepping forward and proving that we were always meant for more.

We are graduating from a university that does not allow its students to remain still. It challenges, stretches and elevates us, often before we even realize we are ready. From the first day we stepped onto this campus, AUS has placed us in spaces where we had to prove ourselves. It gave us professors who didn’t accept easy answers, projects that demanded more than we thought we could give, and a culture that thrives on ambition, curiosity and resilience. At AUS, excellence is not a choice. It is an expectation. And expectations transform us. 

Whether through its rigorous academics, competitive global opportunities or the countless leadership roles available to us, this institution has been more than a place of learning. It has been a proving ground. Being an AUS graduate means something. It means being unafraid to speak when the moment demands it. It means carrying ourselves with the confidence of those who have been tested and have risen. It means knowing that we are not just entering the world—we are prepared to shape it. And that is why AUS graduates are always meant for more.

Being meant for more was never meant to be easy. From the moment we set foot on this campus, AUS demanded more from us—in how we think, how we lead and how we push beyond our own expectations. This was never a place for passive learning. AUS didn’t just hand us knowledge—it challenged us to apply it. It surrounded us with peers who inspired us to think differently, and an environment where standing still was never an option, but AUS could only give us the stage—we had to decide how to step onto it. 

That is what makes the graduates of AUS different. Not just the name of our university, but what we chose to make of our time here. The late nights spent refining ideas, the risks we took in competitions, the moments where we questioned ourselves but pushed forward anyway. This is what it means to be part of this institution. To never settle. To never stop growing. To understand that success is not something given, but rather earned. And today, as we step forward into the next chapter, we do so knowing that we have been shaped, tested and prepared by a university that never let us be anything less than what we are meant to be.

AUS was not the only force shaping us. Alongside the challenges and opportunities this university provided, there were people who stood beside us, and who, in their own way, pushed us to be meant for more. 

To our families, who supported us in ways seen and unseen—whether it was their sacrifices to give us this opportunity, or their unwavering belief in us when we doubted ourselves–Shukran from the heart. 

To our friends and peers, who sat beside us in late-night study sessions, who challenged us and reminded us that we were never in this alone—thank you for making AUS more like home.

To H.E. Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi and those who lead this institution with an inspiring vision, because of you, we step into the future knowing that we are meant for more. So, thank you for everything.

Class of 2025, we will have to respond to more difficult and different questions: 

Who will you be when no one is watching? 

What will you stand for when silence is easier? 

What will you build when the tools are in your hands? 

The answers to these questions will not be found in a lecture hall or a textbook. They will be found inside us—in the very ambition we carry, in the challenges we embrace, and in the belief that we are always meant for more.  We are not just stepping into the world. We are going to shape it.

Mabrook, Class of 2025—may your courage, your purpose and your ambition write the future this world needs.

Kareem Mohmoud Hijazi graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration—Major in Finance.