This is the second in a series of spotlights on our spring 2018 student interns. Learning Life’s students this spring are assisting with research, outreach, fundraising, and international family-to-family projects focused on community photography and food culture as part of our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). FZ Kassidi, interviewed below, is helping with event fundraising, food culture research transcriptions into French and English, and the family food culture project.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Morocco between Rabat, the country’s capital, and Agadir, a coastal city. I am Moroccan as are both my parents.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
I attend the George Washington University as a junior majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in International Economics and a minor in Business Administration.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I love to read any type of book, draw people or cartoons, and if my free time is longer than a weekend, to travel, discover new places and meet new people. Also, I’m a huge world soccer and American basketball fan, so I watch a lot of games in my free time, especially Real Madrid and the Golden State Warriors. Finally, I love to go to the movies as much as I can!
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
I would say interning in Geneva, Switzerland in summer 2017 for the diplomatic mission of Morocco to the United Nations and other international organizations. I spent one month with the Moroccan human rights delegation representing Moroccan interests during the 35th United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2017. The second month I spent with the economics delegation, representing Moroccan interests at the World Trade Organization. Being assigned to make speeches in front of diplomats coming from all over the world, and writing detailed reports about meetings I attended shows the great responsibility I was entrusted with, which allowed me to discover for the first time a new, professional side of myself. This internship also gave me the opportunity to travel as much as I could in Europe, so I got to visit cities like Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich, Switzerland, Brussels and Lieges, Belgium, Monaco, as well as Cannes, France, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Holland, and Zagreb and Split, Croatia. Through all these travels and work-related opportunities that summer I got to not only discover new places, experiences and people but also to discover myself.
What are your career plans?
My career goal is to ultimately work for/with the World Bank to help build more economically and socially prosperous societies that are currently struggling to achieve higher and sustainable growth.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
Learning Life is an honorable non-profit organization that works to give global educational opportunities to children and families in lower-income communities in Washington DC and abroad. That is something that I wish to achieve in my home country of Morocco in the future, so interning with Learning Life greatly and undeniably helps me build up my skills and knowledge for my future endeavors.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
This is a really hard question. I’m what you can call a “travelaholic.” I love to visit new beautiful places as often as I can. To narrow it down, I thought of Maui, Hawaii, which was one of the most amazing places I got to visit. The beaches, the people, the culture, the mountain hiking, waterfalls and all its beautiful nature made me fall in love with the place. But Split, Croatia was such a beautiful place too. The city has many unforgettable islands around it, and mesmerizing caves.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?