Celebrating the Class of Spring 2026

Bismillah Al Rahman Al Rahim.

Your Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of American University of Sharjah; esteemed members of the Board of Trustees; Chancellor Dr. Tod Laursen; Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Matthias Ruth; respected faculty and staff; distinguished guests; our beloved families; and my fellow graduates of the Class of Spring 2026:

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

There are moments when you realize, almost all at once, how many people have been part of the same stretch of time. Classmates you have shared so many memories with, professors who shaped the way you think, and families who supported every stage of it are all here in one place. Many of these people are present together in this hall, and this reality makes this moment feel unlike any other.

A graduation ceremony forces an unusual pause. For years, our lives at AUS were defined by structure: classes to attend, projects to complete, exams to study for. Each semester had its rhythm; each assignment had its deadline. Today that structure ends, and the question before us is simple but serious: What kind of graduates will we be once the structure disappears?

My answer is this: we will be graduates who know how to move forward without a structured plan.

When regional tensions disrupted our final semester, and we continued our studies remotely while the future felt uncertain, we did not stop. We adapted, we supported each other, and we kept going. That was not an interruption to our education. That was, in many ways, the final lesson. We learned that moving forward is possible even when the destination is unclear, and this lesson is one of the most powerful gifts that AUS prepared us for. Today, we carry it with us as we go.

The world will test us again in different ways. Global economic instability has made the first steps of our professional life demanding as geopolitical shifts continue to affect all aspects of our world.

The challenges are real, but so are we. We are not walking into the world unprepared and hoping for the best. AUS did not just give us knowledge. It gave us strengths that will carry us through every uncertain moment ahead.

AUS gave us intellectual honesty. Our professors never rewarded us simply for sounding confident. They rewarded us for thinking clearly. In seminars, studios and labs across this campus, we learned to say “I do not know yet” as the starting point of serious inquiry, not as an admission of failure. In the professional world, this will set us apart. The engineer who acknowledges the limits of calculation before signing off protects lives. The architect who balances the beauty and safety of a design establishes reliability. Intellectual honesty is not a weakness. It is the foundation of every sound decision, because it is the only position from which we can assess risk accurately and remain open to correction when circumstances change.

Moreover, AUS gave us a commitment to excellence. We were taught to refine our work, to draft it, revise it and improve it rather than submitting the “acceptable” version. At first, this process felt exhausting: responding to comments from professors, reworking sections of reports or adjusting presentations after critiques. Over time, however, this process gradually shifted from instruction to instinct. We began to independently recognize when our work could be made clearer, stronger or more precise even before receiving feedback. And that is precisely what distinguishes AUS graduates: we do not simply settle for meeting expectations, but we hold ourselves to the highest standard in pursuit of excellence.

Lastly, AUS gave us adaptive judgment. No decision made under uncertainty is final; it is a first step, not a destination. The graduates who will serve their fields and communities most effectively will not be the ones who never change their minds. They will be the ones who change their minds for the right reasons, who know when to hold their ground and when new evidence demands a different path. This is not inconsistency. This is the mark of a professional who takes outcomes seriously. AUS trained us to think this way. Every peer review, every design critique, every revised lab report taught us that revision is not retreat. It is the clearest sign of a mind that is constantly growing.

So, if you ask me, “what makes AUS graduates special?” I say,

We studied in one of the most rigorous academic environments this region offers, alongside peers from over 100 nationalities. We constructed arguments under pressure. We defended ideas to people who disagreed, revised them when the evidence demanded it, and grew sharper through every challenge. We did not make decisions in a vacuum. We made them with a global perspective. When we walk into a room and commit to a course of action, we bring that precision, that resilience and that judgment that AUS has woven into us.

These qualities, taken together, answer the question we started with: the kind of graduates we will be once the structure disappears are not those who only survive uncertainty, but those who lead through it.

And none of us developed these qualities alone. They grew in us because of the people who made this day possible.

To Your Highness Sheikha Bodour: Under your leadership, the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah and UAE Supreme Council Member, has truly come to life at AUS. Your unwavering commitment to intellectual inquiry, academic excellence and cultural values have shaped our education. Thank you.

To our faculty: You pushed us to think deeper, argue better and never settle for the answer that came easiest; your investment in our minds was the most lasting gift that this institution has offered. Thank you.

To the AUS administration and staff: You were the steady hands behind every part of our journey, ensuring that we were supported from our first day as students to this very moment. Your relentless efforts made it possible for us to pursue our education with confidence and stability. Thank you.

And to our families: You carried us through every doubt, every difficult semester and every moment we were not sure we could finish what we started. Your love made us capable of far more than we knew. To each of you: thank you, thank you, thank you.

To the graduating Class of Spring 2026: The structure ends today. No syllabus covers what comes next. No rubric grades what we are about to face. But we have sat with difficult questions before. We have made decisions under pressure, revised our thinking when we had to, and moved forward when the path was anything but clear.

We have already shown that uncertainty does not stop us. Uncertainty sharpens us.

Congratulations, Class of Spring 2026.

Wassalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

Daniel Indrawes

Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. 

Your Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of our university; honorable members of the Board of Trustees; Chancellor Dr. Tod Laursen; Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Matthias Ruth; faculty and staff; our proud families; honored guests, and my fellow graduates of the American University of Sharjah Class of Spring 2026:

It is a privilege to stand before you today on behalf of my graduating class.

Iqra. Read.

It was the first revelation given to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It is a divine command not merely to look at text on a page, but to seek knowledge, to learn and to understand the world around us. Today, as we gather in this magnificent hall, we are celebrating the fulfillment of that command. We are celebrating the culmination of a profound period of learning in our lives.

My own education began far from here, in the mountains of Afghanistan. I started school there as a young child in a country that knew deep hardship. When I was nine years old, my family moved to Dubai. I traded the rugged landscapes of my homeland for the towering skyline of the UAE. It was a jarring shift, a new setting, a new language and a new reality. But the command remained the same: Iqra. Read. Learn.

Yet, my background from Afghanistan is not just a story of geography. It is a stark, painful reminder of what happens when the right is denied. Today, in the country where I first learned to read, half the population is refused that very right. Millions of girls and women are barred from classrooms; their potential is locked away by those who forgo the divine command to seek knowledge. Standing here today, holding a degree from a world-class institution, I carry the heavy weight of that contrast. It reminds me, and it should remind all of us, that education is not just a milestone to be checked off. It is a great privilege. And more than that, it is a responsibility.

We found our way to American University of Sharjah, a place that quickly became our shared sanctuary. AUS gave us something rare: a profound sense of homeness. It was in the shared exhaustion of late nights in the library, deciphering complex theories until the words blurred together and the coffee ran cold. It was in the quiet moments in the Student Center, the frantic rush across the plaza to be in class on time, and the sudden, brilliant breakthroughs when a difficult concept finally made sense. 

We learned from professors who challenged us to think critically, and we learned from each other, discovering that our differences are our greatest strengths.

Yet, as we immersed ourselves in this academic sanctuary, the world outside our campus was unfolding in unpredictable, even frightening ways.

None of us could have predicted the world unfolding that way. We watched the UAE, our home and our haven, facing unprecedented challenges. Recent shadows have cast uncertainty over a region known for its stability and vision. Now, we feel the tremors of global unrest; we feel the anxiety; and we realize that peace is not a given, but a fragile state that must be fiercely protected.

It is easy, in times like these, to feel small. It is easy to look at the magnitude of the world's problems and wonder what difference a single graduate could make. 

My fellow graduates, 

I urge you to return to the foundation of our education: 

Iqra. Read.

We have been taught to read the world as it is, to understand its complexities and to learn from its challenges.

The challenges we face—regional conflicts, economic uncertainties and the personal battles we all fight—demand we apply the knowledge, the resilience and the empathy we have cultivated at AUS.

My fellow graduates,

Our time of formal study at AUS is complete. The exams are finished, the projects are submitted, and the grades are finalized. But the pursuit of knowledge is far from over. Tomorrow, we step into a new reality. We are not stepping out to a blank page. We are stepping out into a complex, dense and difficult text that desperately needs to be understood.

We step out into a world that is volatile, and we need to comprehend it fully before providing helpful solutions. 

We step out as engineers who will build safer cities, as artists who will capture human experiences, as business leaders who will drive ethical economies, and as thinkers who will, hopefully, solve the crises of tomorrow.

As we leave this hall, let us carry the spirit of Iqra with us. Let us continue to seek knowledge with insatiable curiosity. Let us read the room, read the times and read the hearts of those around us with compassion and understanding.

To our parents and families, thank you for being our guides. Your sacrifices, your love and your unwavering belief in us are the foundation upon which our education is built. To our professors and the AUS leadership and staff, thank you for being our mentors, challenging our thoughts, unfolding our potential and creating an environment of support.

And to our President, Your Highness Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, thank you for your relentless dedication to education and the empowerment of youth—not just here in Sharjah, but around the world. You have truly shown us what it means to lead with intellect and compassion, and you inspire us to carry that same light forward into the world.

Class of Spring 2026, the world is waiting for what we have learned. Do not look away from the difficult chapters. Embrace the uncertainty, hold fast to the values we have gained at AUS, and step forward with courage.

Congratulations. The end of the beginning is here. Now, let us go out and read the world. Thank you.

Ariana Karazi