AUB Instills Hope in Fawzi Yassin

Fawzi's experience at AUB changed his perspectives on life...

For Fawzi Yassin, (computer science 2008), academic standards were not his only motivation for choosing to study at AUB-an accommodating attitude was a high priority.

Stricken by a debilitating genetic disease-Friedrich's ataxia-that damages the nervous system and leaves its victims with impaired mobility as well as other symptoms, Fawzi needed a university that could provide him with easy access to classes.

While AUB's 140-year-old, hilly campus is not ideal to a wheel-chair-bound individual, the University's administration was eager to accommodate its mobility-challenged prospective student.

So when Fawzi applied in 2005, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences promised to reschedule any classes that proved inaccessible to him. A year later, the Protection Office bought a wheel-chair accessible car to transport disabled students along with their wheel chairs across campus, and particularly from upper to lower campus and vice versa.

Fawzi's experience at AUB changed his perspective on life. Before joining the University, he saw his world as confined to his parents' home, with no prospects for a future. Now, he plans to enroll in a Master's program at AUB and work part-time.

"Before joining AUB, I did not think of going to work, and thought I would live at home forever. Now I have lots of hope for the future," he said. "AUB built my personality and allowed me to make lots of friends. I am so thankful for that opportunity and would like to tell people: Never to lose hope. Always keep your eye on the goal and don't think it's impossible."