Hello! My name is Aya Dalawy. I’m 20 years old and I’m currently studying Global Affairs with a concentration in the Middle East and North Africa, but I have yet to pick a minor. I am thinking of international security because it pairs perfectly with my goals and interests. History has always been my favorite school subject, which then turned to government. Government and politics have always caught my attention, especially with having many relatives who work in the news and media field, which meant I heard about the news as soon as they occurred. Always being up to date on world news opened my eyes to many issues and injustices globally driving me to want to contribute to government reform. Global affairs (aka international relations) is a very large umbrella that covers many smaller topics such as international security, global health, global economy, international development, etc. My top two concerns would be immigration policy and global security. These two interest me the most because it is a crucial aspect to global politics because it ensures the safety and survival of the world as well as human rights and development.

Prior to this class, I did not have much of an online presence. I don’t use social media and prefer to maintain my privacy. I hope that this class can teach me how to avoid leaving a bad digital footprint and how to create and manage a blog in case I choose to start one for fun or professional purposes.

When I google myself, the first thing that comes up is a Facebook profile that I didn’t create. The next thing is an Instagram account that also doesn’t belong to me. The only relevant things that came up that I did create were two websites where I had to post a math project and a history presentation. Everything else is more random accounts that don’t belong to me and some images that aren’t of me.