Laith Aqel: The Pioneer

Correction appended

NYU Abu Dhabi freshman Laith Aqel has no idea what he wants to do when he's out of college, and that's just fine by him.

"A lot of people think that's scary and maybe I'll end up shooting myself in the foot, but for me college is just as much about academics as it is about personal growth," he said. "If I can grow within the next four years I think it will be worth it and somehow everything else will just even out."

This belief that people should have a chance to grow, on their own terms, is what's driven him to join NYUAD Advocacy, a club founded by his classmate Alex Wang, who heads the club. The club hopes to address human rights issues in the Middle East that may have been overlooked by the government and the NYUAD campus — issues such as the plight of displaced migrant workers.

Laith met Wang at a Candidate's Weekend, one of the events in which prospective NYUAD students are flown out from the U.S. to visit the new campus. He was impressed by Wang's vision for a socially relevant community service organization. Later, when they came to NYUAD, they made it a reality — and found that many other students shared the same passion.

"It's a true statement to the type of people that this school is looking for," he said. "People that are conscious, people that are ambitious and people that are hopeful."

The club has already held two meetings with over 30 students in attendance — that's a fifth of the NYUAD student body. And it's only gaining momentum. Currently, the club's  main goal is to create off-campus service opportunities for students by connecting with nearby churches and organizations.

"These volunteer opportunities allow us to communicate with the community and feel more integrated with the locals," he said. "No one really wants to feel like a tourist for the next four years. We want to feel as though we're productive citizens and we're contributing to our host country."

Laith is also involved in the environmental club at NYUAD. Considering Abu Dhabi is a city without an existing recycling program, it's a group equally necessary and equally confronted with obstacles. Currently, the club is trying to contact the designers of the NYU campus on Saadiyat Island to ensure they're practicing sustainability.

"We can have a very active role in shaping this city and moving it toward something that is sustainable and something that is more conscious of certain problems," he said. "Designing and constructing with the environment in mind is a great way to improve the environment, or at the very least to acknowledge that there are people that are thinking about the environment."

The club is already making an impact. Recently, they kayaked to the Mangroves, an island an hour away, to clean up trash. The 20 students found everything from robes and mattresses to gum wrappers.

"Seeing how passionate they are about certain issues, it's contagious," he said. "It's one of the things that drew me to this school. Knowing that there are students here that will push me to be better academically and even on a human level."

That tends to be the story with Laith: At a school with a particularly strenuous curriculum, he believes in college as a place where you can get an education in empathy. He looks at the bigger picture.

"The grade that you get on your test tomorrow might not be as great as families whose day you've just made by helping them," he said. "We've been given a unique opportunity to make true, actual, real life changes in an emerging world power, and personally I plan on taking it."

A previous version of this story said Laith Aqel created NYUAD Advocacy. Aqel is actually just a member of the organization. The club was founded by NYUAD student Alex Wang.