{"id":26008,"date":"2018-06-24T18:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-06-24T23:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=26008"},"modified":"2018-06-24T18:26:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-24T23:26:21","slug":"apsus-first-saudi-masters-student-hopes-to-spread-what-shes-learned-in-home-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2018\/06\/24\/apsus-first-saudi-masters-student-hopes-to-spread-what-shes-learned-in-home-country\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU&#8217;s first Saudi master&#8217;s student hopes to spread what she&#8217;s learned in home country"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Austin Peay State University<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-324279\" title=\"Austin Peay State University - APSU\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Austin-Peay-State-University-APSU.jpg\" alt=\"Austin Peay State University - APSU\" width=\"250\" height=\"64\"\/><strong>Clarksville, TN<\/strong> &#8211; Hanan Alghamdi\u2019s face brightened with a smile when she learned she was Austin Peay State University\u2019s first-ever master\u2019s degree recipient from Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel proud of what I am,\u201d said the Master of Arts in Teaching recipient.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started from zero and now I see myself as \u2026\u201d she said before breaking off, adding later as her smile returned, \u201cI did it. I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_427133\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Hanan-Alghamdi.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-427133\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-427133\" title=\"Hanan Alghamdi\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Hanan-Alghamdi-480x320.jpg\" alt=\"Hanan Alghamdi\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\"\/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-427133\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hanan Alghamdi<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Alghamdi moved to Atlanta and Mercer University\u2019s English Language Institute in 2014 on a graduate scholarship from Saudi Arabia\u2019s king to follow up on the geography bachelor\u2019s she earned in her home country.<\/p>\n<p>She wanted to become fluent in English then earn a graduate degree in geography, \u201cbut when I saw the education here and the system and how the kids study in the schools, I changed my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She applied, and was accepted, at multiple colleges throughout the South.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found the MAT program at Austin Peay was the best one for me because I came here with no knowledge or background about teaching or learning,\u201d Alghamdi said. \u201cIt focuses on the most important points in teaching and learning, starting from the what to know what the teaching and learning art and creating the environments for the kids. And going on to the specific points, like discussing the problems, creating and finding the solutions to these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She started at APSU in 2016, focusing on elementary education at Martha Dickerson Eriksson College of Education. The program challenged her in the beginning because she lacked a teaching background and teaching is different in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven the topics and problems or even the studies and theories are different in the Middle East from here,\u201d Alghamdi said.<\/p>\n<p>She prevailed over those challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Barbara Peterson, graduate coordinator for the program, taught Alghamdi in two classes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d say Hanan was one of the best students to go through the program,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cShe\u2019s tackled tough assignments and has done it with dignity and grace and beauty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only was she able to adequately do the work, she excelled in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alghamdi\u2019s immediate plans are to return to Saudi Arabia, hoping to apply what she\u2019s learned to elementary education \u201cto fill the gaps in education\u201d there. She also wants to earn a doctorate in elementary education, in Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked hard, even after the classes, to see or to discuss the common problems or common topics in education in the U.S.,\u201d Alghamdi said about her work at APSU. \u201cThis has given me a new path.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the Master of Arts in Teaching program at APSU, visit <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.apsu.edu\/grad-studies\/teaching.php\" >www.apsu.edu\/grad-studies\/teaching.php<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Peay State University Clarksville, TN &#8211; Hanan Alghamdi\u2019s face brightened with a smile when she learned she was Austin Peay State University\u2019s first-ever master\u2019s degree recipient from Saudi Arabia. \u201cI feel proud of what I am,\u201d said the Master of Arts in Teaching recipient. \u201cI started from zero and now I see myself as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[23,19130,7841,32265,5431,825,3763,32267,29937,32266],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-6Lu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26009,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26008\/revisions\/26009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}