Contributed

Get to know Samah Abdullah, the Fulbright FLTA awardee

CONTRIBUTED: Samah Abdullah, originally from Egypt, decided to be a teacher in the U.S. and is now teaching Arabic at Kirkwood Community College. She is an awardee of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant who loves reading books, walking in the rain and cooking her favorite food: pasta.  

Abdullah said she chose to leave her job in Egypt for a while as an English and Arabic teacher because she had a very pleasant experience teaching English to students from Canada. Armed with a strong determination and professional experience in teaching, plus proficiency in presentation skills, Abdullah is now teaching in the U.S. She is very much in love with teaching and has a high motivation to be able to share culture or special things directly in America. 

“Well, I was already teaching English to the student from Canada, I was enjoying that so much. I am sure that when I do that in person and we have in class and all that, it will be incredible and enriching because when we have in class, we can share the cultures and share so many things that we cannot share in a Zoom class,” said Abdullah.  

She said that when she arrived in the U.S., the most surprising thing was how quiet Iowa was, but she liked it. 

“Well, I was familiar with American culture, so we get to know to other cultures, only made me surprising on day one is how quiet this city is because I came to Egypt, which is crowded and busy. I like that Cedar Rapids is so quiet, so in my first few days, I was thinking it might not be safe because it’s quiet. But now I love this quietness,” said Abdullah.  

Abdullah, who likes the Prophet Muhammad SAW, said she is very motivated to be a professional teacher for international students in Egypt after finishing her program.