Academic Sessions
The Academic Sessions of SUSI 2017 have been engaging from day one. Right when we started with Ms. Sam Camera with Cultural Relativism and Religion afterwards followed by Mr. Thomas Fricke’s of US History and then US Constitution followed by Mr. Ravzan SIbi’s class on Leadership followed by Mr. Michael Hannahan’s on Public Policy and then classes of Mr. Obed Pasha on Policy Implementation and Evaluation.Â
As good as these all were, I say this with a heavy heart, there is always a favorite. For me it was Mr. Macwillaim’s class.on a Presidential Campaign Simulation. Right from the time Mr. Mike gave us that case study on ASARCO Smelter and we discussed in class presenting our views, where he suggested we should be on President Trump’s Team for Campaign Simulation Run (which coincidentally we already were) it made me excited for the campaign.
To say we worked hard for the Campaign would be an understatement. Throughout the campaign simulation runs we were the last group to present anything which made the anticipations unbearable. Coming in last to present and sweeping away the winners trophy (an oval office mug in this case) was an ecstatic moment. Getting to this point required a lot of effort and while my teammates were at different moments acknowledged for their efforts {like Farheen winning the best speaker award and I getting special mentions at two different points by Mr. Macwilliams (thanks again sir!)} unfortunately a lot of hard work could not be appreciated in that small moment without which it all could not have been possible.Â
When Mr. Macwilliams called out for the leader to come forward and accept the trophy on behalf of their team I called out for mentor (Team Julie FTW!) I later learned the leader was someone from within the participants. I was pleasantly surprised by my teammates calling me to go forward to receive this award on behalf of the team. It was a moment of great honor and pride for me.Â
Even though it was the hardwork and dedication of Salman making such a phenomenal video that got us there. It was Ammarah working tediously to make the powerpoint presentation and giving a blasting speech during the debates. It was Mohsin with his clever ideas of thinking out of the box to learn from others and improve ourselves. It was Sundal’s dedication of working against all odds as a student of Medicine to overcome that barrier and delve into American Politics to give a stellar debate performance. It was Farheen’s dedication not only with the debate speech but also with the aesthetics of our campaign. I must also give special mentions to American students with us that helped us beyond their parts to push us towards victory, Lisa Servaes and Leah Eve-cooles it would not have been possible without your constant guidance and coaching about American Politics, your help with Campaign decorations and your support in the classroom during our presentations. You guys all made it possible.
At the end I would just like to thank all of my teammates for being so unimaginably awesome and for the Academic Directors Ms. Sam and Mr. Tom for putting up such eventful classes together which have made the Academic Sessions so engaging and enlightening.
Hassan Ali















