About Fatima Al Zahra Hewaidi

My time in Washington has come to an end, and so has my nine-month stay at ISH. I remember when I first walked through the doors of this House and feeling as though I had entered into a historic building filled with secrets and stories.

As I reflect on my past year in the District, I would like to leave a few thoughts for future residents of ISH:

Get to know your house mates

 You will be sharing this building with over 90 students from all over the world, and from all walks of life. Get to know your house mates – you will learn from them and they will learn from you. Having built close relationships with several students at the house, I know much more than I have before about Rwanda, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nigeria, Japan, the Netherlands, Sudan, South Sudan, and different cities in the United States. I have also made some friendships that I know will last for a long time.

Attending a march in downtown Washington with fellow residents

Take advantage of what ISH has to offer

You will have ample opportunities to meet foreign dignitaries, attend cultural events, experience music performances, and engage in global discussions. Don’t miss out! Over the past year, thanks to ISH, I met with current and retired diplomats who visited us several times at the house and engaged us in lively talks and dinners. I was privileged to hear the music of a talented young violinist at the Israeli embassy, and attend an incredible Mozart concert at the Kennedy Center. I was also lucky enough to have access to cultural tours, interview opportunities, and dialogue events at the house.

Posing in the Great Hall after a concert by the Russian Chamber Art Society

Immerse yourself in the unique offerings of Washington

As a resident of ISH, you will be living within walking distance of the world’s foremost think tanks, the World Bank, the White House, and countless national and global institutions. There are weekly, if not daily, events that are held at these centers, and I urge you to take some time to add a few to your calendar. Even on a busy school or work day, it is worth checking out a discussion on topics that interest you – it will widen your perspective and leave you with thoughts to ponder.

And don’t forget about the arts! You are also surrounded by world-class museums, exhibits, concerts, and art galleries. They are essential to the Washingtonian experience, and they make for a great socializing activity with your house mates and friends.

Roommates smiling for the camera

When in doubt, take a breath, and focus on the present

 This city is filled with ambitious high-achieving professionals who work hard and have big dreams. While inspiring and motivating, this environment at times could be stress-inducing. I found that when the going got tough in grad school and my internship over the past year, a good walk and fresh air were immeasurably helpful in calming my nerves. Rock Creek Park, Georgetown Waterfront, and Lincoln Memorial were my personal zones of ‘de-compression’. I also enjoyed exploring coffee shops and restaurants around town – this city is meant for gourmands!

Alas, this will be my last blog post as a resident of ISH. I am grateful beyond words to the staff of this house for making this a comfortable and special home for me. I will also miss my roommate, Spencer, immensely – as well as a number of lovely faces that I have grown accustomed to having breakfast and dinner with every day for the past nine months. Thank you, ISH, for being a wonderful home. I look forward to visiting next time I find myself in Washington, and I especially look forward to connecting with the friends I made in different parts of the world.

Meal time is my favorite part about living at ISH. The dining hall has been a wonderful platform for me to learn about cultures and practices from all over the world, one dish at a time.

As I come down for a quick power breakfast in the mornings, I learn from my fellow residents about the kind of work that occupies their daily schedules. At the end of the day, coming home from classes or my internship, I deeply enjoy the downtime that our dinner time conversations afford us – before retreating to the study room for the evening. And on Sundays, we all relish over a delicious  meal as we bid farewell to the week that passed, prepare for the one ahead, and welcome new members to our community.

In any given week, our discussions span from humorous cultural practices in our countries of origin, to sharing diverse perspectives about how current global trends are impacting our communities, all the way to updating each other on the progress of our internships, paper assignments, PhD theses, and future plans. No topic is off the table, and laughter always prevails.

In my seven months at ISH, I have learned so much about the world through the eyes of my fellow residents, and for that I will always be grateful. These discussions are what I will miss the most upon my departure in two months. Wherever I end up living thereafter, I know that the memory of these exchanges will give me reasons to smile.

On January 21^st, several residents at ISH broke their lazy Saturday brunch routine and rose up early in the morning to prepare for a historic event. I had been anticipating the Women’s March on Washington for several months now. While its objectives resonated with me, I was not sure what my role should be as an international student in this country. What would this march lead to? Would our voices be taken seriously?

From our ISH doors, we marched as six women representing eight nations: Rwanda, Vietnam, Germany, Canada, Bosnia, Libya, India, and the United States. Our group was a microcosm of the diversity of backgrounds and issues motivating an estimated 500,000 individuals who gathered in Washington that day. We each had different reasons for marching, and yet we all rallied as one powerful force that sought to deliver a clear message to the incoming administration: we are present, and we are watching. We treasure our rights, and we will advocate for them relentlessly.

I was overwhelmed by the inspiration I felt that day. The positivity and enthusiasm I witnessed among the hundreds of thousands of people at the capital was unparalleled to any rally I have seen before. There was no anger or violence, no denial or desire to overcome our current situation. We simply wanted our voices to be heard as we advocated for the rights of our women, immigrants, refugees, environment, and the quality of our race relations.

I have had some time to reflect along with my fellow ISH women. In a world where fear and inequality have been motivating leaders to close their borders and focus inwards, we are in a position where we can speak up and build bridges of mutual empowerment and understanding.

I will never forget that day. I feel privileged to have experienced it with my bright, worldly, and passionate fellow ISH residents.

Every year, I write down a list of resolutions for myself. Admittedly, many of them – perfectly packaged into calendar boxes and elaborate checklists – do not see the light of day. I quickly discover that ‘life happens’, taking over at times in unexpected ways.

This year, foregoing the resolution list, I vow to embrace the uncertainty which will mark the coming months of my life in Washington. As I prepare to begin my final semester at SAIS, I have no concrete plan for where I will end up after graduation. For a serial planner like myself, this feels oddly liberating.

If there is anything that graduate school has taught me, aside from the academics, it is to build relationships and focus on the causes that matter to me. It is to engage in meaningful dialogue with my peers and professors, tapping into perspectives that either build upon or challenge my own ideas. These conversations, some of which take place with my housemates at ISH, naturally take time away from crafting cover letters and submitting job applications. However, they leave me with ideas to ponder. At times, they inspire me to take the next conceptual step in forging a path which would best address the issues I care about.

This is where life happens. These are the moments I hope to savour in my last five months as a graduate student and as a resident of ISH. The serial planner in me will likely emerge soon in protest, and I will probably let her guide my choices on occasion. But as my father once told me, we must allow ourselves the flexibility to embrace a future that is even better than the one we had dreamed of. I do not know what that future will hold. In the mean time, I will dance with uncertainty and let life work its magic.

There are plenty of perks to living in Washington. For a graduate student of international affairs, access to the world’s most pronounced political scholars, pundits, diplomats, and public officials is, by far, the utmost advantage. Over the past month, I had the chance to listen to a lecture by Professor Francis Fukuyama on corruption and state building, attend a lively and light hearted discussion by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on her lifetime career journey, and greet the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi when he visited my school to speak about populism and global affairs. This is only a sample of the kind of opportunities we have in a given month.

Amidst the networking events, expert discussions in nearby think tanks and centers, film screenings, happy hours, reunion parties, and career treks, this city holds the highest standards for whoever is looking for an interesting discussion on politics and international affairs. In fact, the biggest challenge that I found myself facing in my first two months in Washington has been to balance these events with my graduate school obligations. Thankfully, what I learn in my classes – whether it’s power sector reform, strategies for resilient cities, corporate finance or public private partnerships – allows me to engage in a deep level of analysis to make sense of the trends experienced by different regions of our world.

My final year of graduate studies in Washington has thus far featured enriching conversations and ample perspectives on issues that I care about. What I hope to better focus on, going forward, is taking a step back and reflecting on how I could apply these perspectives to inform the impact that I seek to create in my personal journey. I look forward to seeing what the next few months unfold, and I will surely provide updates in future blog posts.