ALO Newsletter
Fifteenth Edition: December 5, 2015

Featured Member: Johanna Krygsman '17

Ahalan wa sahalan! My name is Johanna Krygsman and I am currently a junior at Elon majoring in Public Health and a triple minor in Biology, Middle Eastern Studies, and Business Administration. I have taken three semesters of Arabic at Elon and it has been a difficult yet extremely rewarding experience learning the language! Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have lived in Saudi Arabia for 16 years of my life, and it has let me see all of the beautiful things the Middle East has to offer. The past summer, I was able to re-visit where I grew up and it was wonderful to be able to apply everything I had learned in the classroom with Shereen to real life situations! In the future, I hope to utilize Arabic in whatever field I go into! Ma'a Salama!

ALO Newsletter
Fourteenth Edition: November 10, 2015

Featured Member: Matt Semple '19

My name is Matt Semple and I am a first year here at Elon. I am an International Studies major with a concentration in the Middle East. I also am currently taking the first level Arabic course! I ave learned so much about Middle Eastern culture as well as the language of Arabic in my first semester here. I am excited to continue studying Arabic and hopefully study abroad in Jordan in the near future. I am fascinated with the politics of the Middle East and I am hopeful my studies there and in Arabic will lead to a career in this field! Ma'a Salama! 

ALO Newsletter
Thirteenth Edition: October 25, 2015

Featured Member: Ashleigh McGrath '16

Ahalan wa sahalan! My name is Ashleigh McGrath and I'm currently a senior at Elon. I am an International Studies major, concentration in the Middle East and minoring in Political Science and Economics. It was daunting to begin studying Arabic. Learning the language has been a large challenge, but the number of challenges has twice as many rewards. Last spring, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. When people ask me how my experience was, I am unable to put my response in proper English, or Arabic for that matter. The only thing I can say is that, as St. Augustine once said, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Being fully immersed in Middle Eastern culture was immensely breathtaking. As my senior year draws to a close, I know I will take the lessons from being abroad in Jordan and apply them to my life, to seek new challenges and new heights every day.

ALO Newsletter
Twelfth Edition: October 24, 2015

Featured Member: Styrling Rohr '19

Hi! My name is Styrling Rohr and I am a first-year anthropology major. I signed up for every language organization at Org Fair before participating in ALO. I knew no Arabic and I am not focused regionally on the Middle East, but I was immediately blown away by the food, the people in this organization, and Middle Eastern culture, which I wouldn't have learned about otherwise. ALO has made me want to fall in love with Arabic and the people that speak it! I hope I can learn much more about this beautiful language and the culture that hosts it.

ALO Newsletter
Eleventh Edition: October 21, 2015

Featured Member: Maggie Liston '15

Ahlan wa sahlan! My name is Maggie Liston and I am a senior at Elon majoring in French and International Studies and minoring in Middle East Studies and Political Science. I spent two semesters abroad in Montpellier, France and Rabat, Morocco during my time at Elon. In Morocco, I was able to use my Arabic skills in everyday life to bargain for goods, gossip with my wonderful Moroccan family, or ask for directions when I was (frequently) lost. My region of interest in international affairs is the Middle East and North Africa and I can't wait to see where my Arabic skills take me next! As every Arabic student knows, there has never been a more beautiful, rewarding, and worthwhile challenge than learning to read, write and speak in Arabic.

ALO Newsletter
Tenth Edition: September 26, 2015

Featured Member: Bridgette Agbozo '19

Hey! My name is Bridgette Agbozo and I am currently a first-year here at Elon! I plan on majoring in Marketing and Minoring in Leadership Studies and Sociology. I knew I wanted to join a cultural club when I came to Elon, and I am glad that I found ALO! I joined because I have a passion for learning about culture and language! I also have a love of Arabic food. I hope to learn some basic Arabic language, eat delicious food, and learn more about Arabic culture! 

ALO Newsletter
Ninth Edition: May 9, 2015

Featured Member: Kendall Dodge '15

Hi, my name is Kendall Dodge and I am soon to graduate with the Elon University Class of 2015. I majored in Biology, but I took all three levels of Arabic and have earned the Middle Eastern Studies Minor. My junior year, I went abroad for a Winter Term trip from Turkey and the UAE. We spent a week in Dubai and I loved every minute of it. It was so cool to see Arabic writing everywhere and actually be able to read and understand it. I would love to travel back to the UAE and explore all of the Emirates! The Arabic Language Organization has had a great influence on me throughout my time at Elon. It has helped me grow as a person through leadership roles and it has also allowed me to meet so many wonderful people with similar interest as my own! My favorite part about ALO has been learning how to cook delicious Egyptian food with Shereen! 

ALO Newsletter
Eighth Edition: April 17, 2015

Featured Member: Mark Berlin '13

My name is Mark Berlin and I graduated from Elon in December of 2013. I majored in Political Science and had the opportunity to study Arabic in Muscat, Oman, and Rabat, Morocco. Currently, I am in the MA program and Islamic and Middle Eastern Affairs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As students of Arabic know, it is one the of hardest languages in the world. The grammar, new sounds, and words provide immense challenges for English speakers who want to learn Arabic. However, the difficulty of the language is also accompanied with immense beauty. This is why I love Arabic. It is an absolutely wonderful language - which through practice and devotion provides extremely rewarding benefits for students. Following my time in Jerusalem, I hope to continue my Arabic studies and use my knowledge of the language to pursue a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies. Good luck Arabic students!

ALO Newsletter

Seventh Edition: March 16, 2015 

Featured Member: Alexandra Robinson '15

Hi! My name is Alexandra Robinson I’m currently in my last semester at Elon. When I first arrived on campus I was unsure about what I wanted to do, but after talking Elementary Arabic, I quickly fell in love with the language and the culture of the people who speak it. It was then that I also realized in order to fully understand Arabic and the Middle East it was necessary to learn about the various religions in the surrounding regions. Now, I am an International Studies and a Religious Studies double major with a concentration in the Middle East. After several courses I got the opportunity to utilize my Arabic skills and Islamic studies knowledge, while studying abroad in Jordan last spring. Studying abroad in Jordan was an illuminating experience that combined my various academic studies. Before my trip to Jordan I had been conducting research examining the intersections of religious identity and Muslim women in the US. While abroad I got to add another dimension to my research, a comparative study. Learning about different societies and languages from a textbook does not compare to being fully immersed in the culture. This research uncovered a new passion for me: human rights. Like dominos, every opportunity that I have had at Elon has led to a further understanding of my academic interests and career passions.  I am interested mostly in using Arabic in a scholarly capacity, conducting ethnographic research in areas where Arabic is spoken. Max Muller said, "He who knows one religion, known none." This hold true with languages as well. With graduation close on the horizon, I still do not know my future plans, but I want to continue researching the ways in which religions shape all aspects of life. 

ALO Newsletter

Sixth Edition: February 13, 2015 

Featured Member: Maddy Clough '14

My name is Maddy Clough, and I recently graduated from Elon in December 2014, a semester in which I was proud to serve as the President of ALO. While at Elon, I majored in International Studies with a concentration on the Middle East with a Spanish minor. My junior year took me to the United Arab Emirates, where I studied at the American University in Dubai for four months. After returning to the US for a month, I was off again to the Arab world for an extended stay in Rabat, Morocco, for a summer language program with the Critical Language Scholarship. In addition, I count my travels to Egypt and Jordan in 2014 among my most cherished memories. In 2015, I relocated to DC to begin working for a Middle Eastern cultural attaché, and I am fortunate to use my Arabic skills in a professional capacity. My career goals lie in cultural diplomacy in order to connect individuals of diverse backgrounds by celebrating difference as a positive foundation for educational exchange. I am confident that I will return to the Middle East in the future إن شاء الله.

ALO Newsletter

Fifth Edition: January 9, 2015 

Featured Member: Brianna Birchett '17

My name is Brianna Birchett and I am a sophomore. Last semester, I completed the 122 level in Arabic! I am an International Studies Major with a double concentration in Asia and the Middle East. I am also minoring in Women's and Gender Studies and Middle East Studies. This semester, I will be studying in Varanasi, India, where I will be taking Hindi classes (through Arabic will always have my heart). I hope to one day have a career in India with an organization combatting sexual assault and human trafficking. In the meantime, there is little in life that I love more than travel, and I hope all the things that Ustatha Shereen has taught me will help me one day trek across the Middle East!