DOHA: Six second year students at the Carnegie Mellon Qatar (CMU-Q) attended the annual Odyssey programme designed to develop writing, research and decision-making skills.
Shivani Arora, Manoj Dareddy, Afnan Fahim, Fatema Akbar, Marwa Al Fakhri and Hamsa Al Massri, students of CMU-Q were selected to participate in Carnegie Mellon's Odyssey programme at the home campus in Pittsburgh.
Odyssey is a special three day immersion programme designed to develop writing, research and decision-making skills. The programme, which has been running successfully for four years, is a programme focusing on self-exploration and development geared toward sophomores who have demonstrated strong academics, creativity and motivation.
Odyssey stimulates intellectual self-development and articulation, enabling them to be more aware of possibilities available at Carnegie Mellon, while they still have time to take advantage of them. Students work in small workshops on their writing and produce a self-portrait, which is the centrepiece of the programme.
"The goal of the programme is to enable the students to take a more self-directed, active role in their undergraduate education through the development of writing, research, presentation and decision making skills" said Stephanie Wallach, PhD, assistant vice provost for undergraduate education in Pittsburgh.
"The students who have attended from our Qatar campus have been strong, active participants in the programme, bringing with them a solid academic foundation on which to develop their leadership and self-development skills."
The name 'Odyssey' symbolises the sense of journey and discovery that is conveyed through the programme.
The students selected to partake in Odyssey receive ongoing support to help them locate internships, participate in various community service and study abroad experiences, undertake research projects on campus, and ready themselves for competitive fellowship and scholarship opportunities.
Students have described the programme as "a great educational experience." Dareddy, a computer science student said, "Odyssey was not only a fun trip, but also a great learning experience. There were a lot of guest speakers including prominent alumni, university deans, and Dr Jared Cohon. They each spoke about their personal experiences and challenges, inspiring me to set high goals."
© The Peninsula 2011
