{"id":7646,"date":"2022-04-26T10:24:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T14:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=7646"},"modified":"2022-04-26T10:24:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T14:24:36","slug":"class-of-22-engineering-grad-overcomes-challenges-learns-lifetime-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2022\/04\/26\/class-of-22-engineering-grad-overcomes-challenges-learns-lifetime-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Class of \u201922: Engineering grad overcomes challenges, learns lifetime lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MohammedTo mark the graduation of the Class of 2022, Marketing & Communications is profiling several students who were nominated by staff and faculty for their contributions to the University and their potential to make a difference after graduation.\u00a0For more information about 2022 commencement exercises, please\u00a0click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mohammed Harhara was a senior in high school when his family decided to move more than 6,500 miles from their Saudi Arabian home to the small Detroit suburb of Melvindale, in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy English was very basic at that time,\u201d said Harhara. \u201cI thought that I would start learning at a first or second-grade level, but no. They had me doing the same essays and reading assignments as all the other students\u2014it was challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move interrupted many things in Harhara\u2019s life. From being the top student in his class back in Saudi Arabia to barely being able to understand the curriculum here in the United States, all while experiencing the culture shock of a new country.<\/p>\n

Somehow that didn\u2019t slow him down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked really hard during my high school days,\u201d said Harhara. \u201cI was staying behind to talk to teachers to better understand things, we would even sometimes have to communicate through Google translate, but I found a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harhara\u2019s English got better and better simply by communicating and talking to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t have any other choice, I wanted that same \u2018top student\u2019 title here, in the U.S., as I had in Saudi Arabia,\u201d Harhara said.<\/p>\n

His hard work paid off and Harhara earned the President\u2019s Education Award for his academic excellence in Melvindale. He was in the top 10 of his class and ended high school by graduating with honors.<\/p>\n

But his hard work didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was introduced to many different colleges in Michigan and it seemed like the choices were endless,\u201d Harhara said. \u201cI heard about schools like University of Michigan and Wayne State University, but when I looked further into them, I noticed how big they really were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harhara received scholarships to multiple institutions, but he recognized that working with his teachers one-on-one was an experience he needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA representative from University of Detroit Mercy wanted to come speak with me,\u201d Harhara said. \u201cHe was telling me about the smaller class sizes and that it would give me the access to my professors that I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that, it was no question that Detroit Mercy was his top choice.<\/p>\n

Harhara started his journey at the University\u2019s College of Engineering & Science as a Mechanical Engineering major and it quickly became his second home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live and commute from Melvindale, which is about a 15\u201320-minute drive from campus, but I might as well live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it be his job at the Office of Student Life where he has been known as “the heart and soul of the office,” or being an active member of the Muslim Student Association, Harhara is rarely hard to find.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny because I feel like I\u2019m the famous guy around here, I always see myself in photos around campus,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my biggest worries was how I was going to make friends, but I can honestly say I haven\u2019t lacked at all in that department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether in class, through Student Life, or even just walking around campus and talking to people\u2014Harhara goes on to say how proud he is of all the close relationships he\u2019s made at Detroit Mercy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince freshman year, my professors and I have been so close,\u201d Harhara said. \u201cThe faculty here is amazing.\u00a0 They\u2019re all just so knowledgeable and encouraging and always try to involve their own life experiences from out in the field in order to teach us what to expect in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harhara says that same one-on-one experience he received in high school was met and exceeded during his time at Detroit Mercy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with Dr. Plantenberg (Kirste Plantenberg is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering) a lot and she helped me recognize and hone where I thrived most in this field which is the design aspect,\u201d said Harhara. \u201cI\u2019m proud that when I go into a job interview, I can confidently say, \u2018I\u2019m really good at designing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, Harhara has a job with an automotive organization that\u2019s involved with designing fuel tanks, but he wouldn\u2019t mind exploring other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still trying to find my place in the engineering world. I\u2019ve been considering going to get another degree in chemical engineering, but I\u2019ve also thought about teaching,\u201d Harhara said. \u201cI don\u2019t know where my path will take me, but my goal is to be a positive change in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To mark the graduation of the Class of 2022, Marketing & Communications is profiling several students who were nominated by staff and faculty for their contributions to the University and their potential to make a difference after graduation.\u00a0For more information about 2022 commencement exercises, please\u00a0click\u00a0here. Mohammed Harhara was a senior …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":7648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9,29],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2022\/04\/mohammed_harhara_blog.jpg?fit=600%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-1Zk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7649,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7646\/revisions\/7649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}