Highlights

• MU junior got his start as RA and Program Assistant through his position on Residence Hall board.
  
• Says job is rewarding because of different cultural perspectives.
• Meets big name speakers when he organizes their events at MU.

Mid-Term: Anwar Ali

Marquette wasn't Anwar Ali's first choice. But since he's arrived, he's hit the ground running. By junior year, he's coordinating speakers, working as an RA and a program assistant — plus economics and psychology homework.

Ali says he likes his job as Program Assistant Assistant for Multicultural Affairs in the Office of Residence Life because of the kinds of people he gets to work with.

"They're really good people," he said. "It's just enjoyable to work with them."

Also appealing to Ali is the different experiences he has as working on as Program Assistant. 

"I have learned a lot from it about different cultures, about myself," he says. "You learn the little things you wouldn't think about and how that affects them."

Ali says he got the job after being on his hall council for a year. He applied to be an RA, but didn't get the position. But his second application, for Program Assistant, was accepted. After hearing good things about the Speakers Coordinator, he decided to try his hand at that, too.

The job involves organizing the details of the speakers' visits, which he says has been a valuable experience. More interesting, he will get to meet some of the speakers involved. The first is Frank Warren, founder of PostSecret.

He's a economics major in the college of Business Administration, and says he wants to pair that with a major in finance. He says psychology was going to be his major, as he really liked it when he took it as an advanced placement course. He changed his mind, but kept it as a minor.

Surprisingly given his three jobs, he says he can keep his work within reasonable boundries. It helps that he finds his work as Speakers Commissioner interesting.

"It's a nice balance between having fun and getting work done," he said.