College Success Arizona presents "Student Stories: Sabra Ali"

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• published: 08 Oct 2016
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By Troy Wilde Phoenix, AZ – Sabra Ali’s journey started in Nairobi, Kenya and it continues at Arizona State University’s prestigious W.P. Carey School of Business. Sabra explains, “I am currently studying Business Human Resources, and hopefully in the future I plan on either owning my own business or working in HR. Growing up in Nairobi, I think I had a really good childhood; I lived next door to my best friend and I had a lot of friends back home, a lot of great food, and a lot of great family.” Sabra says her interest in business is rooted in her family, “Business is something that my family has always done. My dad was a business owner and my mom also had a small business. So, business is something that my family was always passionate about, and that I’ve always been passionate about - so that’s why I decided to be in W.P. Carey.” Prior to attending ASU, Sabra, age 20, graduated from North High School in Phoenix, “It was a really great high school. I played tennis and golf, and I made really great friends. Also, the clubs that I was in actually prepared me for college, and also introduced me to the scholarship (College Success Arizona scholarship).” Beyond the books, Sabra is an active member in, and holds leadership positions in the Omega Phi Chi Multicultural Sorority at ASU. “I absolutely love the sorority because they are the premiere organization for young women leaders. They believe in diversity, and all of my sisters and I are passionate about education, sisterhood, and really motivating each other to do well in all aspects of life.” Sabra also serves as an instructor at the W.P. Carey School of Business, “I am a facilitator and I instruct a class called W.P. Carey 101. Basically, I teach a class of 19 freshmen and help them transition into college. I teach them about things like how to register for classes, how to make a resume - basically, all of the things freshmen need to know coming into college, and to help them transition into becoming a college student.” In her first couple of years at college, Sabra also worked with the Global Business Association at ASU, “It’s a great organization that helps students learn about international business and how to conduct business in different countries, and also we focus on studying abroad. In addition to the aforementioned stuff, Sabra is also working two jobs; one as a community assistant on the ASU campus, and she is also an office assistant at the University of Arizona College of Medicine campus in downtown Phoenix. This is not a typo, Sabra attends ASU and works for the U of A, “Yes I know I’m a traitor. I absolutely love it (working at the U of A), but I don’t talk about it when I’m on ASU grounds.” Sabra is among the many hard-working students who have earned a scholarship through College Success Arizona, which provides up to six-thousand dollars per year for educational expenses. The students also receive specialized mentoring services from “Success Advisers,” who help guide them through academic and personal challenges. Sabra says the scholarship money and guidance from Barbra Scrivner, her success adviser, have been game-changers, “This scholarship has helped me way beyond funding my college. This scholarship brought in mentors to personally help me through college. Barbra (Scrivner) is absolutely amazing during our one-on-ones, and I can talk to her about anything. Sabra, the youngest of ten children, says having one brother and eight sisters is providing a major support system, “Yes it has definitely motivated me and I have absolutely looked up to them in every aspect of life. And you know, having eight sisters is definitely amazing because one; I don’t run out of clothes because I have a lot of hand-me-downs. And two; being in a big family gives me a lot of people to look up to.” Sabra has some advice for middle and high school students considering their own path to college, “Some advice I give freshmen is ‘be involved, network with people, take every opportunity that presents itself and be open-minded. And also don’t shoot yourself down – think that you can achieve anything, because you can.” Learn more about College Success Arizona online at www.collegesuccessarizona.org