The weekend of October 14-15, the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champain's Shireen Aydogan, Hedaya Hassanein, Foziea Garada, and Amina Gurmen competed at Qatar Debates' 4th US Debate Championship. Competing against schools nationwide, they debated all weekend at the University of Utah. Undergraduate students Shireen, majoring in MCB, and Foziea, studying Computer Science, placed in the top 15 as Non-Native Speakers in the Nation. Although it was her first time competing, Hedaya, studying political science and psychology, also ranked in the top 15! This tournament allowed students to make connections from across the nation with others who held similar interests while gaining new perspectives on various global social, economic, and health issues. Hedaya Hassanein says “As I am minoring in Arabic, debating in the language has given me immense exposure to the language. While using the language in real life situations, I can now critically think in Arabic. This opportunity would not have been possible without the contributions of CGS and CSAMES at UIUC!
