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EDUCATION
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BACKGROUND
I was accepted into Kuwait University’s MA Program in Comparative Literature in 2008. I was 22 years old. At first, I was focused. So focused, in fact, that I was honored as the top student in 2010. Yet unlike some of my colleagues, I never managed to complete my thesis.
My grandmother passed away amid a series of other events that compounded the internal hurricane I was feeling and continued to feel long after. Throughout this difficult period, I focused on writing and its healing properties, performing slam poems, leading creative writing workshops, and speaking to students about the power of language and literature and the ways they shape what it means to be human.
Over time, I gained some acclaim for the work I was doing in Kuwait.
My grandmother passed away amid a series of other events that compounded the internal hurricane I was feeling and continued to feel long after. Throughout this difficult period, I focused on writing and its healing properties, performing slam poems, leading creative writing workshops, and speaking to students about the power of language and literature and the ways they shape what it means to be human.
Over time, I gained some acclaim for the work I was doing in Kuwait.
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Ten years after my first experience as a grad student, I returned to higher education, albeit this time moving thousands of miles away from home to study Creative Writing at Columbia University in the City of New York.
I promised myself, this time around, that I would practice the tools I had developed over the decade. Using those tools had helped me publish two books and receive, by 2018, an Arab Women Award from Harper’s Bazaar Arabia in the category of Inspirational Woman for my impact on Kuwait’s creative landscape. I was excited to revisit my graduate experience, at the end of 2018, with a deliberate strategy that paid as much attention to my personal aspirations as it did to my academic and professional goals. By the time I left Columbia University, I had successfully completed not one but two theses (in poetry and in literary translation) during a global pandemic, at a time when my country’s airport was in lockdown, my student visa was running out, the contract for my apartment nearing its end--and all the while drowning in other uncertainties (relationship breakdowns, health concerns, family troubles, etc.). |
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Not only have I managed to achieve my academic goals despite the external and internal chaos, but I also managed to pay off all my student loans a few years after graduating as well.
It's important to remember that as human beings we are thrust into a vortex called life which doesn’t stop when we embark on higher education.
If the aim is to complete one’s academic projects without getting overwhelmed, we could remember that a healthy mindset is deeply rooted in understanding what it means to be vulnerable as well as resilient, and forward thinking as well as flexible.
An academic coach can help you attain work-life balance as you navigate this perilous terrain. In my coaching and mentoring practice, I also help you develop writing and support systems that lead to a more enjoyable graduate experience, which remind you, in addition, to appreciate your blessings and take pride in your efforts throughout your student life.
It's important to remember that as human beings we are thrust into a vortex called life which doesn’t stop when we embark on higher education.
If the aim is to complete one’s academic projects without getting overwhelmed, we could remember that a healthy mindset is deeply rooted in understanding what it means to be vulnerable as well as resilient, and forward thinking as well as flexible.
An academic coach can help you attain work-life balance as you navigate this perilous terrain. In my coaching and mentoring practice, I also help you develop writing and support systems that lead to a more enjoyable graduate experience, which remind you, in addition, to appreciate your blessings and take pride in your efforts throughout your student life.
As an academic coach, I provide a practical framework to help students combat fear, doubt, writing block, and other forms of overwhelm. |
ACADEMIC COACHING TRACKS
The idea is to develop the practical framework at the beginning of the writing journey. Doing so, allows for a more pleasurable graduate experience.
In a Regular Track, clients will receive:
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In an Expedited Track, clients will receive:
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DURING SESSIONS, I CAN COACH YOU THROUGH
- Tracking expansive and limiting desires
- Reflecting on your values and staying connected to you deeper WHYs
- Becoming more strategic as well as resilient by reframing what mistakes and changes mean to you
- Developing a personalized system to help differentiate between helpful and harmful thoughts
- Preparing your work space, and organizing your notes, resources, and drafts
- Breaking down dissertation/thesis chapters into small, manageable arguments and adding them to a comprehensive calendar
- Creating SMART Goals for your academic objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound)
- Categorizing your To-Do-Lists (Academic, Physical, Spiritual, Social, etc.) and maintaining life/work balance
- Practicing mindfulness or developing new systems for self-care that will prioritize your mental and physical health
- Fostering a support network to help you stay disciplined
- Attending to life’s challenges while staying focused on your academic goals
- Tracking your reinforcing moments and celebrating your wins
Each session follows the client's own agenda.
And packages are renewable for clients who need more time with me.
EDITORIAL PACKAGE
As a dissertation coach, I try to focus on coaching fundamentals, as such, I do not provide editorial services. However, I can make an exception for clients who seek a hybrid model which combines coaching with comments on writing samples : i.e. style, tone, level of comprehension, clarity, etc. This offer is curated according to students’ needs.
FEE
- If you seek a hybrid model, we will customize a plan together before getting started.
- A Regular Track costs: 720 KD (60 KD per session).
- An Expedited Track costs: 390KD (65 KD per session)
- If we decide on a package of sessions, you will need to pay your invoice in full prior to our first call.
- If we decide on a monthly retainer arrangement, please process the payment on the 1st of each month.
- Pre-paid session work never expires. If you decide to pause session work before we’ve completed the number of sessions you’ve paid for, you’ll be able to use them at a later date.
- I accept payments through PayPal, bank transfer, and Upayment.
- Please budget for this investment and make certain funds are available on time. I do not accept late payments.
The aim of a coaching relationship is a dynamic forward moving energy as client and coach focus positively on the client’s own goals and visions.
WHAT IS COACHING
Liberation from Limited Thinking
Coaching helps people improve their lives, not in the sense of “perfectionism,” but rather in the sense of becoming more familiar with their core values: the set of principles that bring authentic fulfillment to their lives, which makes them kinder parents, more attentive partners, more dedicated writers or painters or musicians or YouTubers, and so on.
These values help us tap into the will to stand up for our beliefs, ourselves, our loved ones, and our community.
It must also be stated that coaching isn’t positive affirmation or putting on a fake smile and never experiencing the shadow self, or negative emotions and troubling thoughts.
Instead, coaching is a process of cognitive restructuring accompanied by real changes over several months.
It provides the framework to encourage and support people to get out of their own heads and to begin gradually building the life they aspire to live by transforming into the people they long to become.
At the end of the day, a successful coaching relationship is an empowering one.
Clients should complete a package feeling that they have accomplished goals, transformed some of their limiting beliefs, and relished in more fulfillment and blessings along the way.
How do Coaches Achieve Their Aims?
What is Gained from Meaningful Questions?
By asking meaningful questions, coaches:
What Do You Get From Working With a Coach?
As a support system, coaching provides the client with:
Coaching helps people improve their lives, not in the sense of “perfectionism,” but rather in the sense of becoming more familiar with their core values: the set of principles that bring authentic fulfillment to their lives, which makes them kinder parents, more attentive partners, more dedicated writers or painters or musicians or YouTubers, and so on.
These values help us tap into the will to stand up for our beliefs, ourselves, our loved ones, and our community.
It must also be stated that coaching isn’t positive affirmation or putting on a fake smile and never experiencing the shadow self, or negative emotions and troubling thoughts.
Instead, coaching is a process of cognitive restructuring accompanied by real changes over several months.
It provides the framework to encourage and support people to get out of their own heads and to begin gradually building the life they aspire to live by transforming into the people they long to become.
At the end of the day, a successful coaching relationship is an empowering one.
Clients should complete a package feeling that they have accomplished goals, transformed some of their limiting beliefs, and relished in more fulfillment and blessings along the way.
How do Coaches Achieve Their Aims?
- Listening deeply
- Asking powerful questions
- Setting up strong support systems
What is Gained from Meaningful Questions?
By asking meaningful questions, coaches:
- Focus the client on possibilities
- Move a client beyond their automatic responses and into their creative process
- Help clients unearth and express their authentic desires
- Allow the client to hear their own answers out loud. For many, this external processing is critical for growth.
What Do You Get From Working With a Coach?
As a support system, coaching provides the client with:
- An accountability partner
- Safe opportunities for meaningful dialogue
- New perspectives and expanded options
- Inspiration and motivation
- Potential solutions
- Next steps and strategies for a balanced future
