“It’s a cheesy line,” Iman Azman admits, “but it’s really true. Coming to Carleton has been a life-long dream.”
In a way, she has her dad to thank. When Iman was 12, he took her to a Canadian university fair in her hometown of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The Carleton booth was the first one I saw, and the woman there was really nice,” she recalls. “I knew I wanted to take journalism – CNN was always on at breakfast, and I loved to write and talk – and I knew Carleton had the best program.” When it came time for university, this was the only one she applied to.
“It was a bit of a gamble,” she concedes, “but if I hadn’t made it, I would’ve stayed home.”
Today, as Iman winds up her second year in Journalism and Political Science, she has become a Carleton ambassador herself, working for the Student Experience Office. Whether it’s helping serve tea at President Runte’s house, ushering at convocation, or participating in summer orientation, Iman enjoys giving folks a warm impression of Carleton students.
But her biggest responsibility has been to spearhead this year’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB), a program that links classroom learning with community service. She enjoyed participating in ASB during her freshman year, helping at a local school that serves mainly immigrant kids, and wanted to return to the program in a bigger role.
So last summer she found herself planning three ASB projects, including ones in Mexico and Guatemala, and revamping the Ottawa project to focus on poverty and homelessness.
The Ottawa team volunteered at a number of local organizations, from a drop-in centre to a soup kitchen, got a taste of poverty by living on a $7-a-day budget, and heard guest speakers who’d themselves lived on the street.
“There was real team-building,” Iman says. “At the end of the week, it was really hard to say goodbye to these 13 people. Luckily, I still see them around campus.”
She says the experience taught her not to be worried about reaching out to street people – even if it’s just to smile and say hello. She also learned organizations always need help. “Not enough students know about Carleton’s resources to connect them with local groups,” she says, pointing to the Student Experience Office Days of Service program as an example.
Planning for the three ASB projects – pulling together a fundraising plan, background reading, orientation sessions, and other logistics – meant she learned great skills: being quick on her feet, customer service, organization (“when you have to get up at 6:30 on Saturday morning to get to campus for 7:30, you’re pretty organized”).
Despite all that, Iman has carved out time for other interests. She serves on the executive of Carleton’s chapter of Journalists for Human Rights, maintains a blog, and is an avid photographer who sells some of her work for charity. She has also developed a passion for hockey (“back home the guys are really into soccer, but nothing compares to the fanaticism for hockey here”).
“I’m involved in so many things I feel a bit of pressure,” she admits. But that hasn’t cut into her academic achievements quite yet: last year, Iman was named a K. Phyllis Wilson Scholar.