Izman Suhail, Class of 2019
Male’, Maldives
Political Science Major
Although I was born in the Maldives I was fortunate to have been able to experience “growing up” in several different countries. Before I began my studies in the United States I attended an international school in Norway with students from more than ninety different nations. In addition to receiving the opportunity to learn about the Scandinavian culture of welfare, I was able to discover and learn from the perspectives of all the other students that I came across in Norway. I became fascinated by contemporary problems that plagued different people around the world and ever since, I have been inspired by the solutions that these people were developing to address their problems.
In Austria I hope to continue developing my understanding of issues that people face globally. In one of the classes I took in the previous semester (Spring 2017) it became evidently clear that Austria, among several other West European countries, faces a politically tumultuous future. The rise of the far-right political parties suggests the current Austrian government has to make compromises to appease the right-leaning public; the problem with this is that appeasing the right-leaning public usually involves reducing the number of immigrants entering Austria or introducing a refugee quota, both of which would violate EU law. During this trip I hope to learn how this challenge developed in Austria, the similarities between the Austrian challenge and other West European countries’ far-right related challenges, and the solutions that have been proposed to tackle the challenge.
I enjoy playing football (soccer) and am a zealous supporter of the English football club Arsenal. I grew up near the sea and as a result swimming is very close to my heart. I speak Dhivehi, the official language of the Maldives, and a little bit of Spanish which I am hoping to improve before I study abroad in Seville, Spain in the fall of 2017.
