AUK Students Represent Kuwait and Place in Environmental Public Speaking Competition

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) participated in the Environmental Public Speaking Competition in Dubai, UAE for the second consecutive year. The competition was organized by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), and five students from AUK, accompanied by their coach, Lisa Waite, instructor in AUK's Intensive English Program, attended and delivered two presentations at the competition; one of which won the first runner-up prize in its category.

"Mission Possible" was one of the two presentations from AUK to deliver at the competition. AUK students Shaza Wattar, an International Relations major, and Rateb Shehadeh, a Marketing and Communications & Media double major, earned the first runner-up prize in the "Green Economy" category; a category that had 18 participating colleges. The team identified countries that are successful in implementing green economic measures, and offered solutions to help solve the looming environmental problems in the GCC. Shaza explained that the long hours her team spent in preparing for the competition was exciting. "Besides the absolute joy that this competition brought my team and I, it was an honor to represent AUK and show other universities that with our team work and hard effort, AUK is a great institution to be reckoned with," she said.

The other AUK team delivered a speech under the category "Who is Responsible for Food Wastage?" Bhavneet Sahni, a senior who is pursuing double majors in Finance and Accounting, and Maryam Mofied, a junior pursuing double major in Economics and Finance, showed the audience what damages wasting food can cause to the environment. They did so by using a magician's theme as a tool to bring their points across in an educational, yet entertaining manner. "Sahni showed overwhelming creativity throughout the entire process of research, outlining, writing, and performing the speech. We really had to work hard at reigning in all her ideas as she wanted to continually make the speech more and more creative," said Waite.

Omar Al-Faresi, who is seeking a degree in Communications & Media, provided support for the teams. He produced a video for the "Who is Responsible for Food Wastage?" presentation, and also provided technical support for both AUK presentations.

EEG is known for their diligence in protecting the environment through the means of education, action programs and community involvement. EEG is viewed as one of the most prestigious environmental groups within the Middle East and prides itself on its environmental achievements. AUK was the only institute from Kuwait to attend the competition, which saw competitors from several institutes across the GCC, as well as Egypt and Yemen.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 2nd February 2015