Carpe diem: the guide of giving back as told from a 23 year old

By Tamara Abdin

Photography by Cesilia Faustina

Aseel Esa, a business administration graduate, wants to leave an imprint in the world and do something for humanity. After years and years of moving countries and meeting different people, she let her life be guided by this one simple rule: make the best of every day, take risks, be kind and give back.

Born to a Sudanese mother and father, Aseel spent her entire life moving from one country to another. It’s been a huge challenge having to change environments whenever she started settling in. It was hard for her to accept it at first; adjusting to a new place every few years. Still, she looked at it as a new experience. She took on the challenge, arms open wide, and decided to learn from it – working on herself and enjoying it at the same time. It was an opportunity for Aseel to understand new cultures and change her mindset.

Coming to Jordan after her father got a job there shaped a huge part of her journey. She spent around ten years in Jordan and earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan last year. Throughout her studies, Aseel was able to find herself and what she wanted to do with her life.

She is currently aiming for an internship or a job specifically in the field of marketing because, while it gave her direction, she also believed in its power to create and develop new ideas as well as it helped her understand how people think.

This, alongside her diverse background, encouraged her to engage in volunteer work. She volunteered with AIESEC, a youth-run non-profit organization that promotes a better future for everyone.

“I really like the field of volunteer work and I believe in its power to provide something good to the human side of the society that you are living in,” Aseel said.

In five years’ time, she hopes to become an independent woman doing something she is passionate about. She also hopes she can establish her own NGO to offer something positive to the world – to make a change and leave her mark.

Although Aseel has not yet figured out a solid plan for the NGO she wants to start, she knows that she wants to help people reach their goals in life. She believes in equal opportunity for all, and just like she was able to find her voice and make something out of herself, she wants to ensure children around the world can do the same.

She especially wants to educate people, because she considers herself incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to learn and go to university. One idea is to open an educational institute somewhere in Africa, knowing there are a lot of people there who can use her help.

“The NGO… I want it to have people who can volunteer their time or their money, to reach people in places where they didn’t get the chance to go to schools or their families couldn’t pay for them to go to universities so we can teach them or help them reach the goals that they want. This is the main idea,” she said.

Another goal of Aseel’s is to encourage cultural diversity among people while empowering them to discover things that are outside “the familiar” because there is so much to learn about the world.

“I think the most important thing in life is to take risks and discover things that are outside of your comfort zone,” she said.

“I was that type of person who was really scared to get out of this comfort zone and to experience things that I was not familiar with. I was even reluctant about meeting new people but after a couple of years, I learned that this is not going to work and that we have to experience things in life; taking risks and learning new things from it.

“If I didn’t take risks and if I didn’t experience things differently than the way that I was already living, I wouldn’t have gained anything and I would’ve lived the same life over and over again. I wouldn’t have achieved anything.”

Whether it is all the way across the globe or right where you are at the moment, there is always a way to leave your comfort zone and make someone else happy for a change. It’s important to Aseel and it should be important to all of us. We shouldn’t always take the easy way out. As Aseel puts it, it is our job to be kind and give back, not just take.

About

Aseel Esa is a business administration graduate from Yarmouk University. She is currently seeking different opportunities to help her spread her knowledge and create a positive impact on the world. She believes in living life to the fullest and would like to spread the word of giving back.