Ibrahim Alshamsi, who will be graduating from Coconino Community College Monday, attributes his successes to the support he's received from the people in his life, both at the school and elsewhere.
He will be one of the class speakers at the May 12 ceremony, where he will graduate with an associate鈥檚 degree in general studies.
Alshamsi, who is a CCC2NAU student and will be continuing his studies at Northern Arizona University this fall with a major in electrical engineering, said his interest in the subject started with computer science. It then shifted toward engineering as he became interested in computer hardware.
鈥淚鈥檝e always had a interest in how physical circuits work and how electricity courses through them and how we are able to design and come up with those sorts of things,鈥� he said.
Most of his classes at CCC have had to do with liberal arts and core subjects. Alshamsi said his professors were engaged with their subjects and 鈥渨illing to go the extra mile鈥� for students. He specifically mentioned physics faculty Chad Davies, saying Davies鈥� classes, while challenging, also helped him become more confident with physics.
Alshamsi said CCC鈥檚 strength lies in the ways it supports students.
鈥淚鈥檝e noticed that CCC excels at being a place of belonging, regardless of your background, your education, your status,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 sort of one big family over at CCC, and you always have some people you can trust and rely on. Not just faculty, but even between the students. 鈥� I always feel that at CCC, there鈥檚 a place for me there.鈥�
Throughout his college career, Alshamsi has been involved on CCC鈥檚 Lone Tree Campus through both part-time work and as the president of the college鈥檚 chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, Beta Gamma Chi. The honors society helps with a variety of campus events, such as blood drives, the Flagstaff Marathon and other weekly events from Student Life.
Alshamsi said the group plans to expand this work in future years.
鈥淲e have been trying to get more involved and support them because I want to see more of what they鈥檙e doing on campus,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t really makes campus feel alive that there鈥檚 a place for all the students to be there to relax, that people are there to care for them.鈥�
He said support from his family, friends and colleagues helped him to succeed in college.
鈥淢y success and my achievements are representative of the support that I鈥檝e received,鈥� he said.
He added: "Without them, none of this would be possible. I want to make it clear that, especially the family, they鈥檝e always had my back -- mom and dad have always supported us in whatever we wanted to do and they鈥檝e loved us unconditionally. As I get older, I learn to appreciate more and more how much that鈥檚 worth.鈥�
While Alshamsi said his family is from the Flagstaff area, he grew up abroad and moved to the city about a year before starting college in order to attend CCC and care for his grandmother鈥檚 house. He said he finds the area 鈥渂reathtaking鈥� and plans to continue living here even after finishing his education.
鈥淔or how many people live here, I was not expecting to have such easy access to the wonderful wildlife," he said. "To be able to just see it all around is very calming, really helps me be at peace with myself when I can realize that we鈥檙e just one little part of this big world, so my worries aren鈥檛 as big as I make them seem.鈥�