Working Across Continents: Islam Al-Qaisi's Story

Islam Al-Qaisi

We always love to catch up with our former team members about everything they've done since we last saw them. Islam Al-Qaisi is our former Peer Advisor and an AUS chemical engineering alum who graduated in 2015, and he dropped by the office for a chat a couple of weeks ago. He is a commercial manager at Kpler and a former employee at an international oil company called Total, and these jobs have taken him around the world from France to India to South Africa. Islam says he's become a better person for it, and he traces these opportunities all the way back to the skills he learned during his study abroad in 2013-14 and his time at IXO.

During his study abroad at Montana State University, MT, USA, Islam developed communication skills that have come in handy no matter where he goes. "I've traveled to Turkey, India, France, and many other countries to do business. My job requires me to meet government officials, CEOs, and senior managers. Communicating with these people requires good interpersonal skills, and I have been blessed enough to acquire those skills from my study abroad experience, as I can comfortably speak with others from different countries and whatever their seniority level," he said.

In Paris, France

Emotional intelligence has been one of the most important skills Islam acquired during his study abroad. "Understanding someone else's point of view, especially coming from a different culture, is a useful skill to have in the real world," he said. "I have traveled and lived abroad for professional work in South Africa. My time there was an opportunity to immerse myself in the culture and the people. South Africa is known for the diverse ethnic backgrounds of its people, and I was able to be friends with everyone."

At a safari in South Africa

It is important to Islam to be a good representation of his culture when he travels. "I always remain an ambassador of my principles, my culture and my religion whenever I travel abroad. I value letting people understand where I come from and clearing their preconceptions about being someone from the Middle East," he said.

Working at IXO helped Islam develop several professional and personal skills. "From the professional side, I've gained better communication and interpersonal skills, I've learned to work smart instead of work hard, and I developed time management, risk management, and good planning skills. As for the personal aspect: life became more positive. Public speaking became easier. And I became more family oriented since I felt the difference when I was living independently abroad."

Islam looks back at his time at IXO very fondly. "I always brag about being a Peer Advisor at IXO - I always say that this is where teamwork happens. It was an unforgettable experience; it's always been fun times working at IXO. I worked with an amazing team, and we still go out together for reunions. I remember the good reviews I got from the study abroad students at the end of the semester, which still helps me until now. It gives me the motivation to keep getting better."


Suzana Saoud
IXO Publicity Specialist

From New York to Dubai: Suzy Sikorski's Journey

Suzy during our interview with her

'Studying abroad changes your life' may sound like an empty platitude, but in Suzy Sikorski's case, it's genuinely true. Suzy came to AUS in Fall 2014 as a junior international politics student from Fordham University, New York. However, she soon found out that her passion lay not in politics but in the arts - particularly Middle Eastern art. During her time in the UAE, Suzy immersed herself in the local art scene, interviewing local artists, studying Emirati art history, and working at art fairs and galleries. Suzy moved to the UAE to do more research after obtaining her Fulbright Scholarship and now works at Christie's Auctions in Dubai. She has found fulfillment and success through her extensive research on Gulf and Emirati art and artists, as well as a place where she feels inspired and at home: the UAE.

Early Beginnings

Suzy comes from a Polish-Italian family in Long Island, New York. "I grew up living a very American lifestyle," she said. "I was always interested in history and culture from a very young age. Even when I was just watching Aladdin or other cartoon movies about the East, I was so interested. I wanted to go there and experience different people, because I came from a very boxed-in community."

Coming from a small family, Suzy had big dreams. "I went to school and I studied international politics with the hope of potentially working for a foreign service," she said. "But I realized early on in my sophomore year what my skillsets were and I learned that I wasn't going to be ruling the world or President of the United States. That's just not where I'm excelling. Where I'm excelling is the arts, explaining an artwork to someone, feeling and empathizing with an artist, and interviewing the artists."

"Pulled in Both Directions"

Suzy ended up having a year planned in Morocco during her junior year. She planned everything from start to finish, and she was looking forward to perfecting her French and learning about Moroccan culture. Suzy remembers that her father once mentioned Dubai, saying, "Did you check out Dubai? It's big in documentaries, it's this cool place," but she didn't think much of it back then. "At the time, I was very much pulled in both directions; I was just coming of age in my sophomore year and I wanted to assert myself, I wanted to be financially independent," she said. One day she met a Jordanian professor of sociology who asked her, "Where can you see yourself in five years?" This was five years ago. Suzy replied that she saw herself as a specialist in Middle Eastern Arts at Christie's. "It gives me chills to think about it now," Suzy said.

The professor told her to cancel her entire trip to Morocco and head to Dubai. "I called my father, and he was like, 'I told you so!'" Suzy said. "The international exchange office at my school thought I was insane because I kept on switching. I applied last minute to the only school that my university was connected to, which was AUS. I had no idea about Sharjah; I came here not knowing anyone and was very open about it. It was always with the intention of working in Middle Eastern art," she said.

Time at AUS

"People just kind of knew me as the arts girl," she said. "People here helped me out a lot and I ended up interning at Ayyam Gallery in Alserkal Avenue. I also ended up helping out at galleries and art fairs. I did everything that I could to meet more friends that were not from IXO but were instead from the local population, so I just felt so at home here. It seemed like so many aspects of my life were being fulfilled; I was coming of age and growing up, and at that point, I wasn't talking to my parents as much. But you need that sometimes, to feel removed, to learn who you are, and that's exactly what happened."

Suzy says IXO was very helpful to her during her semester at AUS. "I’m so thankful to being with IXO; I'm a very independent person, but without them, and without that community and support, I would’ve felt very out of place. I made so many close friends here," she said.

In fact, through an IXO friend, Suzy was able to tap into the local Emirati art scene. Without even knowing in advance, Suzy met up with Abdulnasser Gharem, one of the most famous artists in Saudi Arabia, via her friend. In turn, Abdulnasser introduced her to the community of older Emirati artists. "At the time, I had no idea about the art communities within the Gulf, within Saudi Arabia, within the UAE. They're very close, and this topic turned into my thesis and my Fulbright Scholarship. So I spent over two years interviewing local Emirati artists and I fell in love with it. It fulfilled a need because there's not a lot of people documenting local art history here," she said.

Suzy stayed at AUS only for one semester, but she ended up coming back to the UAE two or three times afterwards before she even graduated. "I came back to always be here, to work at art fairs and galleries," she said. "Somehow I always found myself here."

Fulbright Scholarship and Research

For her Fulbright Scholarship, Suzy spent ten months right after graduation researching local Emirati artists. "It was so amazing," she said. "I met them, filmed them, interviewed them, recorded them - I have a website where I feature all these interviews, and it turned into a recording of my time here. It was really powerful, and so I'm very happy that I established myself before joining Christie's."

Suzy formed close bonds with the local artists she interviewed. "I became especially friendly with the older generation because they're so down-to-earth and welcoming. So it turned into me interviewing these artists, and I still do it, but it's been hard to balance with work. At the same time, it reinforces my role as a specialist in this category [of Gulf art], which not a lot of people are, and I think what allowed me this specialization is the access I had to these artists. It's not easy; you have to meet someone who will trust you to go to their private home. It's a very intimate setting that I would be in. It transcended research boundaries, and now I feel like they're part of my family. I've learned so much from different people, and that's the beauty of my job," she said.

Move to the UAE

When Suzy went to the UAE for her Fulbright Scholarship, everyone assumed it would be a temporary move and that she would return to the States - but she didn't. "I wanted to grow, I wanted to experience, and I knew where I was living then was not going to foster this productivity in my mind," she said. The decision to move came around June/July 2017 when she was finishing with her scholarship, and her job at Christie's came at the right time.

As she is an only child, Suzy's parents had some difficulty accepting her move, but they were eventually supportive. "Over time, you learn that your parents will always be supportive in the end. It’s your personal choice and it’s what you want, so you have to chase your dream," she said.

Christie's and Beyond

Suzy currently works at Christie's Auctions as a junior specialist. She is in charge of writing the entire catalog, which focuses on modern contemporary Middle Eastern artists, including from the Arab world and Iran, ranging from the early 1900s to today. So how has this job been for Suzy? "I’m living my life, I’m maturing, I’m growing up here," she said. "Especially working in Dubai, you grow up very quickly; it’s such a small group of people working within my team that you are exposed right away. I’m always meeting with collectors and learning about the market. It’s all part of the experience."

To bring things full circle, we asked Suzy where she sees herself five years from now. "I think I’ll still be here," she said. "There’s so much work to be done here, and I’m in a perfect position to grow and connect. I’m growing with the artists I’m meeting." Suzy also plans on staying here because of the deep connection she has developed with the UAE. "I genuinely found my soul here. I had many dinners with these local families who were so, so entirely different from my family back home, and I would just look up at the sky, in the beautiful majlis in the courtyard, and think, I feel so at home. I was surrounded by a very traditional Muslim family, and I just felt my soul was present; I felt like there was something larger that was bringing me here and I felt so connected. It was a very powerful feeling and that’s what makes me stay."


Suzana Saoud
IXO Publicity Specialist

Ara Azizbekyan, AUS Alum

Ara during his visit to our office

The positive impact of studying abroad lasts long after you return home, and it can translate into tangible benefits later on in life. We recently had a visit from Ara Azizbekyan, an Armenian AUS graduate who majored in management at the School of Business Administration. He studied abroad at George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA, in the Fall 2016 semester. After his graduation in May 2017, Ara landed a job as a consultant for Knowledge Workx. He says he wouldn't have gotten his current job without his study abroad experience, as Knowledge Workx were looking to hire people who had international experience and demonstrated intercultural intelligence and interest.

Ara was the only representative from the Middle East during his study abroad at GWU. During his time abroad, he was surprised to observe that the various friendship groups that formed at the university had nothing to do with nationality, but were instead founded on the basis of common interests and shared experiences. The cohort he belonged to ended up being super international and cross-cultural. Another difference Ara observed between the USA and the UAE was between their respective 'world views' - the USA world view focusing on a rule-based approach to determine 'right' or 'wrong,' versus the more relational and honor-based focus for determining 'right' or 'wrong' in the UAE. 

Ara's study abroad was also a gateway to his personal development; it was the first time he'd ever had to live by himself. He learned how to cook, do grocery shopping, do laundry, and just take care of himself (i.e. not just eating junk food). He lived with three 'strangers' in a two-bedroom apartment and had to learn how to set boundaries and respect his own and his roommates' personal space. And finally, he had to learn how to properly balance study, work, and play. 

Studying abroad gave Ara the desire to travel and explore more. He didn't really go through any kind of slump when he was abroad at all, but he found that he experienced severe reverse culture shock when he returned back to the UAE. He wishes that he'd been able to extend his study abroad to stay longer - unfortunately, he wasn't able to due to his graduation, and he wasn't able to go any earlier due to passport issues. Regardless, the experience had a very significant impact on his life, both personally and professionally.

Spending a semester in GWU isn't the only international study experience Ara has had. He has also completed an internship in Armenia as well as his undergraduate studies as an international student at AUS in the UAE (when his home country is Armenia). These experiences were a huge part of why Ara gained employment at Knowledge Workx, whose mission is "to be the globally preferred choice for interculturally intelligent consulting, coaching and learning." He joined the organization about a year and a half ago and has completed their ICI and DISC Certifications. While undertaking these certifications, he found that all of his own personal stories (shared with other class members) came from his study abroad experience at GWU. Ara currently designs training programs and develops them virtually for global participation. He finds that the Knowledge Workx tools and frameworks resonate with his experience.

Ara also remembered Osama Mafraji, who was his International Exchange Advisor and the predecessor of Grace Morales, who now occupies the same position. Before Ara left for GWU, Osama told him to call him anytime, day or night, if he experienced any issues while abroad. Osama had studied abroad through our program himself prior to his graduation and knew first-hand about the sort of personal journey that a study abroad experience can take a person on.  

Suzana Saoud
IXO Publicity Specialist