Our program had a long weekend this past weekend due to the Martin Luther King holiday. I decided that I wanted to take this opportunity to take a trip back home to visit my family. When I was planning out the specifics of my trip, I thought it would be fun to take some of my friends from the program home with me to visit my family. I decided to take two of my friends from Pepperdine’s Law school with me for the weekend. So Thursday night after class, me and my friends Oscar Samour and Sherif Badr headed to Fresno.
Oscar is an international student from El Salvador. He is in Pepperdine’s Dispute Resolution Program at the law school. Back home, Oscar is a corporate attorney for one of the biggest firms in Central America. Oscar is a Fulbright scholar, which is a very prestigious achievement. Being a Fulbright scholar means Oscar was selected as one of the top graduate students in El Salvador to study abroad to further develop their education. Once his one year program is completed, he hopes to gain some work experience with a New York based law firm. One thing even more impressive than his academic and professional accomplishments is his ability to have a good time! If you’re going to find me out partying in Santa Monica or Hollywood, its a safe bet I’d be accompanied by my good friend Oscar.
Sherif is an international student from Egypt. Like Oscar, he attends Pepperdine’s law school and is a Fulbright scholar. In Egypt, Sherif is a prosecutor for the Egyptian government. From what I have learned about Egypt, this is a very important, powerful and respected position. One cool thing about Sherif, is even though he stands an impressive 6’4” 240 lbs, he never has a harsh word to say about anyone. His kind-hearted and fun-loving nature is always a great addition to our social circle at Pepperdine. I have never met a more hospitable and genuinely nice person in my life. Although he ends up being the victim of a vast variety of Egyptian jokes, everyone loves our favorite Pharaoh!
When I sat down with Oscar and Sherif about deciding what they wanted to do in Fresno, they brought up that they had never seen snow before! I couldn’t believe it. Going skiing and up to the snow was something that I had just assumed was universal. So we planned a ski day up at Sierra Summit and had a blast! My father and I took everyone up the mountain to enjoy the snow for the day. They took a ski lesson, took lots of pictures and even built a snowman! After our ski day, my family took us out to a local restaurant called the Elbow Room for dinner and drinks. It was a great weekend for all, and one we will not soon forget...
Being with Sherif and Oscar is a refreshing reminder of how international Pepperdine really is. It is crazy to think that less than a year ago, my friend circle was very homogenous. My “group” was all made of the exact same demographics (white, from the central valley of CA, etc). Now I hang out with students from China, El Salvador, Egypt, Germany, India, Ukraine, and Japan on a regular basis. Being exposed to the vast array of cultures is a very important and valuable part of the Pepperdine MBA experience.
