Disposition: Malak Nassar

Disposition is a convergent journalism project initiated by Chelsea Perry. It aims to provide the UPEI international community with a platform to share their stories, and break down the divisive mentality of “us versus them.” The series will be updated on a weekly basis at The Cadre. To take part in Disposition, email cperry2@upei.ca, or text 902-432-4821.  

Malak Nassar is from Cairo, Egypt, and is pursuing a BA in Political Science.

“I was twelve when the first revolution started. We had a month off of school, and I didn’t really understand much of it. Another one happened in 2013. I was older, but I still didn’t know the complexity of it. I knew we weren’t doing well before, but I thought that maybe this was a chance for us to do better. This is part of what made me want to travel abroad. I wanted to do something different from the rest of my friends back home. Something more personal, where I could grow, and bring that growth back with me.”

“I want to create a real political scene back home, where there are real parties running for real positions. But I’m a very realistic person, and I don’t want to be disappointed. One time I was sitting with my dad back home and I asked him, ‘Do you think at one point I could be the president of this country?’ and he said, ‘Probably not.’ And I wasn’t even disappointed, because he was right. He was like, ‘I don’t think the population is ready to vote for a woman president. You could be prime minister probably – we have lots of women ministers. But probably not president.’ Being realistic about things is important. I can’t let that bring me down. Maybe I can’t make it to president, but maybe I could make it to prime minister. And that’s good enough. But I do aim high, secretly.”