SYS Story
It was Fall 2019 when I had the time to choose my elective courses
during my graduate journey at KAUST. I chose Sustainable
Engineering taught by Prof. Mani Sarathy and Energy and the
Environment taught by Prof. Tad Patzek. These two courses awakened
me to the urgent reality of the world. I was filled with both
logical and emotional drive to act; my brain and heart felt like
on fire. My only hope was the goodness on humanity and all I
wanted to do is to empower others to act and collaborate.
When Dr. Ana Margarida, the head of KAUST sustainability,
organized 'Let's Talk about Sustainability' in November 2019, I
felt It was the door to stop complaining and start embracing
change. I was truly fortunate to meet other passionate and
self-driven people to establish a platform to drive positive
impact. A very diverse group of us bonded on a respectful,
transparent, dynamic and open manner. The first sustainability
organization was born with me being the founding president.
Despite the pain we experienced individually throughout the
pandemic year of 2020, we showed how our collective efforts make
us resilient. We were the most active student organization on
campus. We initiated the Sustainability Seminar Series, Campus
Tours, Week of Awareness, Sustainability Movie Nights,
Sustainability Behavioral Challenge, Earth Day Celebration, Global
University Climate Forum, and many others. We participated in both
local and international organizations. It seemed to me that all
forces came together to create this epic student organization.
We aspire to expand this youth momentum to other local and
regional universities. By establishing this society , we aim to
connect with other young change-makers from Saudi Arabia to
develop novel approaches to tackle persisting critical issues and
initiate a network that will unite our forces together. We want to
raise our voice to policy makers to meet the younger generation's
demand of sustainable development. We need to act collectively
now! Let's thrive together for the better.
Sincerely,