Impact Stories

Born and raised in the village of Barsa El Koura in northern Lebanon, Marie Joe Sawma grew up in a loving family dedicated to excellence. Marie Joe is a graduating student (Class of 2024) who’s majoring in civil and environmental engineering. Marie Joe’s brother, Tedy (BS Biology ’19, MD ’23), also attended AUB. “We spent our childhood dedicated to education, music, and sports. Our mother, a musicologist, structured our time effectively, dedicating Friday afternoons exclusively to sports and piano lessons under her supervision, while the other days were focused on our academic education. Our father, involved in the arts, worked in wood fabrication and furniture,” Marie Joe says.

Despite the hardships caused by the financial collapse of 2019, Marie Joe decided to enroll at AUB in 2021, “inspired by my brother’s journey and driven by my ambition to graduate from such a prestigious institution. I decided to take the risk and enroll at AUB for the 2021-2022 academic year despite my family’s financial circumstances, which had been affected by the 2019 financial crisis when my father lost his job and my mother’s income became limited,” she explains.

Marie Joe credits her brother for opening her eyes to the opportunities and financial support AUB provides for incoming students. “My brother has significantly influenced my journey. He earned the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS-L), a fully-funded merit scholarship, by ranking among the top five students in the Lebanese Baccalaureate in Life Science 2016. This enabled him to pursue a degree in medicine, graduating with support from AUB’s Office of Financial Aid, The Alexis and Anne-Marie Habib Foundation Scholarship, and later the SHARP initiative,” Marie Joe notes.

Her decision to pursue a degree in civil and environmental engineering was influenced by her childhood – “particularly the summers spent in my mother’s village, where I actively participated in agricultural tasks and developed an interest in water management resources and hydrology. Opting for civil engineering was a natural decision as it connects hydrology, environmental, and agricultural fields. As the first woman in my family to pursue engineering, I received tremendous support, despite societal stereotypes.” Marie Joe’s experiences and skills were sharpened during what she called a very “fulfilling” academic journey at AUB’s Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA). “AUB offers students a supportive environment essential for academic success, encompassing distinctive academic, environmental, financial, and social support systems. AUB’s reputation and high academic standards provide students with invaluable opportunities. Last summer, through the Career Development Center at MSFEA, I was able to secure a fully-funded internship at the University of Texas at Austin which has played a pivotal role in the next stage of my journey,” she notes.

Marie Joe has been accepted into a fully-funded PhD program at Princeton University beginning in fall 2024. “This achievement would not have been possible without the support of the AUB community,” she says. Marie Joe is especially thankful to AUB’s Office of Financial Aid and the donor-funded scholarships she received from the Jalal and Gabrielle Saad Scholarship, Akram Miknas Scholarship, Women Leaders in Engineering Scholarship, Samir & Salwa Khoury Scholarship, Dr. Samuel White Endowed Scholarship, The Alexis and Anne-Marie Habib Foundation Scholarship, Alarab Education Foundation Scholarship, and the Oliver Maki Scholarship. “Without the financial support from the Office of Financial Aid and donor-funded scholarships through the Office of Advancement at AUB during my undergraduate years, I wouldn’t have been able to envision my future or graduate from such a prestigious university. Being able to proudly say that I am an AUB graduate is all thanks to their assistance!” she says. “My years at AUB have instilled in me the importance of helping others and valuing education, knowledge, and learning. In the future, I plan to support students through the Office of Advancement who are in the same position as I once was, helping them reach their goals and achieve their dreams. AUB has taught me the importance of believing in and supporting the dreams of others.”