FAQs

If you have a question that isn't answered here, send me an e-mail at geoarabica@gmail.com!

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

As much as I love Arabic and the Middle East, I was actually born and raised in New Jersey. I am a proud Jersey Girl, and I love the shore, Wawa, and hoagies accordingly! And while my family has a bunch of different heritage and ethnicities, Middle Eastern descent is not one of them.

WHAT COLLEGE DID YOU ATTEND?

I went to Mount Holyoke College (go Lyons!!)! If you haven't heard of Mount Holyoke, it's the oldest consecutively running women's liberal arts college, and it’s one of the original Seven Sisters. I went there because the international relations department is amazing, and then I stayed because of the amazing geology faculty and the opportunities they gave me that led to my career and academic passion as a geologist.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO ARABIC?

My room mate from my first year of college is Egyptian-American. I often heard her speak to her family on the phone in Arabic, and I thought, that is such a beautiful language! So on a whim, when I had to meet Mount Holyoke’s language requirement, I decided on Arabic! My experience with Arabic has taught me that, with a little bit of passion and planning, a person can really learn just about anything.

HOW DID YOU END UP DOING A PhD AT UMASS? ANY ADVICE FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANTS?

It’s been a long and challenging journey. Long story short, I became involved in doing seismologic research through a Fulbright grant in Jordan. While I was there, I learned about Jordan's water scarcity, and how dangerous the lack of access to water is getting throughout the world. I wanted to do something about it. So I decided to focus on water issues, and to learn as much about groundwater so that I can help find solutions for water access. With a little bit of luck, a positive outlook, a ton of hard work, and a lot of support, I found the joint Ms/PhD track program at the Geosciences Department at UMass. Do I have any advice for grad school applicants? Network and keep strong connections with your current and past mentors, whether they’re professors, bosses, or peers. The application process requires a lot of support. And remember that time management is critical; there’s never enough time in the day, so we need to take care of ourselves with what few hours we have! At the end of the day, life is only as good as how we enjoy it, so don’t stress. Make sure to treat yourself well so you can focus on what you care about to make life meaningful.

HOW DO YOU MAKE TIME FOR ALL OF THE STUFF YOU DO? 

I usually make a schedule of almost every day, except for Sunday. I still love those book-style agendas, even with all these online and smartphone calendars! But lately I've gotten into bullet journaling, and it's really been both an artistic outlet and a useful way to keep track of my days. I make a list of things I need to do, and then I estimate how much time each thing takes and schedule my day accordingly. At the end of the day, if something doesn’t get done, I don’t stress and just leave it for the next day. As much stuff as I have to do, for sanity’s sake, I always take a lot of little breaks during the day. And I almost always keep an hour at the end of the night for relaxing. More than anything, as much as I try to do great things, I never try to be a perfectionist. I would rather be positive and enjoy life than stress over getting everything done and being miserable.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?

I'm 32!

WHERE DO YOU SHOP?

I’m a big thrift store girl, and I do a lot of my shopping at stores like the Salvation Army and Goodwill. The high-quality things I find for really inexpensive prices always blow my mind (I recently found my friend a real Prada bag that would’ve retailed for about $2,500, and we got it for $15!). For those wardrobe staples that are hard to find in thrift stores, I usually go to outlets for stores like Gap and Anne Taylor Loft. Obviously, as a Geobabe, I could live in stores like REI and Eastern Mountain Sports (not a paid sponsorship - haha), so I try to visit them only when I absolutely need to and inevitably end up staying there way longer than I plan!