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be bold
t e s t i n g
LIMITS Commencement speaker Aliza Asad encourages new graduates to push themselves past their comfort zones
It’s through opportunities ... where I was given things that I thought were far beyond my potential, that I started to believe that maybe these things are really achievable if I put in the effort and push myself. Asad standing next to the Lennon Wall during a trip to Prague
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hen asked what the takeaway from her upcoming commencement address will be, Aliza Asad has a simple yet profound answer.
campus, she was reluctant to make friends, join any clubs or campus organizations, or really step out of her comfort zone at all.
“Take comfort in discomfort,” she says. “It’s an important step to using your perspective and identity to create some sort of meaningful impact on someone.”
“College campuses can take a little bit of exploration in order for you to find your niche. I don’t think you can just come in and say ‘this is it, this is where I belong.’ There has to be some amount of trial and error that has to go into that.”
The international studies and public health policy double major has faced her fair share of challenging situations, and she firmly believes that these experiences have made her a more well-rounded and compassionate person. That’s why in her commencement address she hopes to inspire her peers to embrace a little discomfort in their lives.
For Asad, the searching paid off when she discovered several groups that helped mold her into the person she is today. The first was New U, UCI’s on-campus, student-run newspaper. She loved that it offered her a space to express herself through written word and it encouraged her to branch out further.
In fact, Asad’s entire first year at UCI could be described as one long, uncomfortable situation. She admits that when she arrived on
She also joined Global Connect, UCI’s student outreach program that allows undergrads to teach current events at local high schools.
“I loved that I was able to take what I was learning at UCI and really apply it somewhere where it had a tangible impact,” she shares. “You can see the kids start to get really interested in these topics throughout the year. It’s really rewarding to see that what you’re doing actually impacts someone.” Around the same time that she joined Global Connect, Asad’s resident advisor brought her to an Olive Tree Initiative (OTI) meeting. She felt at home almost immediately. With her new group, Asad truly came into her own. She became co-president of OTI during her third year, and traveled to Israel and the West Bank as part of the organization’s experiential education program. She also had the opportunity to guest lecture in one of political science associate professor Daniel Brunstetter’s upper division international studies classes, where she presented information on the militant group Boko Haram.