Meet our Alumni
Personal growth at STEM October
Mustafa Ehab
Mostafa Ehab, probably one of the most popular prodigies that came out of STEM October and one that has rightfully deserved his position in the cast of accepted students. Mostafa comes from Beni Suef and he spent most of his early life in Syria and traveling between Cairo and his hometown until one day his uncle visited him when he was in 9th grade and his wife told Mostafa about a school called the Zewail School: a misconception name for STEM October. Mostafa applied for the school by a challenge from his father and some encouragement from his school mates and he was accepted to join the 3-year adventure.
When Mostafa first joined the school, he didn’t like the environment much and he felt that he was more comfortable at his old school and with his family. This feeling crept on him until the middle of the second semester in his sophomore year. Then, he finally realized how attached he had become to the school and how the school really changed him for the better and how it opened his eyes to a new world of thought that he never would’ve achieved in his old school. And at that moment, he decided to continue in STEM and he also decided to pursue the goal of studying abroad. Junior year for Mostafa was a year of accomplishment: he spent the year running from one activity to the next and he sought out to fulfill the goals that he had set for himself at the beginning of the year. He looks back at it now as one of the most fruitful years of his life. And after that, of course, was his senior year. The year he liked to call the year of actualization. A year where he reflected on his past and looked at the metamorphosis that he has gone through. And also a year where he looked to the future and tried to predict how he would look back on these amazing years later on in his life. Ending the year with the life changing acceptance email from Stanford University.
Mostafa credits the school for giving its students an international perspective of thinking and that it makes them think on a scale like no normal student. His favorite memory from the school was working with the student union and how he loved the organization and its members and how they worked to solve the problems around them and make the best environment possible for the students. And his favorite extracurricular activity is a very popular one among students till this day which is the CCC or the Competitive College Club: a club that gathers students that are passionate to study abroad so that they can help, benefit and support each other.
Mohamed Ramadan
Mohamed Ramadan is one of the brain children of STEM October and one of its glorious cast of accepted students. Born in El Dakahlia, Mohamed was a student at an experimental language school since kindergarten and he stayed there until he received a suggestion from some school teachers and friends to apply to STEM October. He wanted to embark on the adventure with his 2 friends. He was passionate to try something new, make projects, build contraptions, change the world and possibly study abroad. Although the STEM school experience was as short as 3 years, for Mohamed it represented a changing period for his life.
He started off his sophomore year with only one thing in mind: Discover. He basically joined all the clubs that were available including biology, geology, physics, chemistry, game development and so many others that he says he can’t even remember anymore because of how unimpactful they were. Nevertheless, it was a crucial step he took to uncover his passion and find what was right for him. Little did he know that his passion was actually just staying at home and reading a book. In junior year, he was determined to hone his skills. He read even more and he even started writing and engaging with the STEM community through his literature. In senior year, he realized that it was almost the end of the road and after some critical thinking about how this school had changed him, he started devoting most of his time to giving back to the community and leaving a mark at this place that evolved him to what he was now. And while he was doing that, he was preparing for the most important year of his life.
A few very tough months later and it was time for the decision. And, as usual, his hard work was paid off with an invigorating statement: “You have been selected to be one of the students for the class of 2022 for Washington University in St. Louis”. And with that, he gives off his last thoughts about the school: “[A] community that unleashes the potential of every student and pushes them beyond their limits, [a] collaborative and spontaneously competitive community where we are all competing yet we are all helping each other, [an] inclusive community where your mindset, religion, and ethnicity don't matter. It's that community that produces impactful individuals who are ready to soar to greater heights. STEM is basically college, just 2 or 3 bits more intense and enriching. And that's how it helped me withstand college.”