Asmaa Hassan Ahmed Ali likes to explore the unfamiliar. A track star in her native Egypt, Asmaa Ali runs most mornings before class at Webster University, often picking a different route through Webster Grove in the hope of experiencing something new.
That adventuresome spirit is partially what brought Asmaa Ali here in the first place. She was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, where she studied languages, specializing in Turkish. After graduating from college, she applied for an international scholarship program geared toward earning Egyptian women MBAs in the U.S.
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She was accepted and given an initial placement in Chicago. But at the last minute, she was instead placed in St. Louis. “I had to Google it,” she says. “Chicago is famous and easy to know. I didn’t know much about St. Louis. But I’m the type of person who likes to discover things without expectation.”
When Asmaa Ali arrived here last August, she found St. Louis to be smaller and a bit slower-paced, a welcome departure from the clamor of Cairo. Classes were different, too: In Egypt, her studies were built around lectures, whereas graduate lessons at Webster centered around discussion. Through that open forum, Asmaa Ali learned of the great diversity of opinion, background, and religion among her fellow students. She quickly befriended people not only from the U.S., but also from other countries, such as Pakistan, India, Germany, China, and Korea. The faculty went out of their way to ensure that her transition was going smoothly. St. Louis quickly began to feel like home.
Perhaps Asmaa Ali’s biggest surprise came in November, when Missouri, the place that had welcomed her so warmly, voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, a man who had campaigned against immigration and Islam. “There was a gap between the election results and what I was seeing,” she says. Of course, this may have been due in part to her residence in the liberal bubble-within-a-bubble of a university located in a metro area. But Asmaa Ali acknowledges that many Trump supporters may not be as xenophobic as some have portrayed them. She says she’s never been openly discriminated against because of her religion here.
Nonetheless, Asmaa Ali was concerned in January when Trump issued restrictions on immigration from several Middle Eastern countries. And though Egypt wasn’t initially included on this temporary ban, Asmaa Ali has scrapped plans to return home this summer for fear that she might not be allowed to return and complete her MBA.
In her short few months here, however, she’s developed a durable optimism in America. “I feel frustrated for what is going on,” she says. “I believe the right thing will be done. The American people know what’s best for the country.”
In the meantime, Asmaa Ali believes, the most productive thing she can do is be an example. “I am a representative of my country and my religion,” she says. “My friends tell me that I am not what they hear about Muslims and Middle Eastern people—not the way the media describes us. The media is not always 100 percent right. You have to experience things for yourself and decide.”
When she graduates next May, she plans to return to Egypt. Initially Asmaa Ali wants to join an international company and do something related to strategic planning, but she wants to eventually start her own business, a retail clothing shop that she can run with her father, who used to operate such a store when she was a child.
With that curiosity and passion for exploration, there’s no telling where Asmaa Ali’s path might lead. Asmaa Ali hopes that, at some point, that trail will bring her back to St. Louis. “I get attached to people very quickly, and I’ve gotten attached to more than one person here,” she says. “I’d love to come back and visit them. Life is all about people.”
