Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, participated in a lively interactive session held with students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) yesterday, April 30, at the university campus. The special event, which marked the debut of the BGS Networking Series, was organized by the AUS chapter of the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) international honor society in collaboration with the university's School of Business Administration.

During the session, six selected students from the various AUS colleges and school shared their experiences as successful students and entrepreneurs as well as presenting ideas and suggestions related to issues concerning the youth. Her Excellency praised their efforts and provided them with guidance and feedback.

The topics of discussion, which ranged from doing community work in the UAE and abroad to the promotion of the study of science among the youth, were presented by students Ajith Roy, a finance major; Rahsi Shafana, an economics major; Noora Al Saeed, a mathematics major; Mohammed Yaseen, a computer science major; Hashim Al Zaabi, an economics major; and Muhammad Aziz, a finance major.

Dr. Björn Kjerfve, Chancellor of AUS, welcomed Minister Al Mazrui to AUS and apprised her of the university's history, student body and current status. Dr. Leland Blank, Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Dean of Students; Dr. Jorg Bley, Dean of the School of Business Administration, as well as other senior university officials were also present on the occasion.

The AUS BGS chapter was established in Spring 2012. Last week, it held a special ceremony to honor and induct honor 40 new members to the society. These comprised individuals from the top five percent of junior business students, top 10 percent of senior business students and top 20 percent of MBA students. As an international honor society, BGS provides the highest recognition a business bachelor or graduate student receives at a school accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.

Subsequent to the networking session, Her Excellency also attended and participated in an AUS Youth Circle event that focused on the theme: "How to harness the potential of students in universities to make the nation achieve greater heights," held at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) located at the AUS campus. Attended by a large audience that comprised AUS community members, the event was organized by the AUS Student Council and the Emarati Cultural Club.