An Interview with University Scholar Noura Elsayed in Haute Hijab

This month’s HOTM was nominated by her friend who had this to say about her:

“I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Noura to be the Hijabi of the Month. She constantly inspires me, and countless others, with her sincere heart and it’s beautiful manifestation in the hijab. I met Noura in our first year of college, and have been in awe of her ever since. Her journey with the hijab is a testament to her strength and commitment to Allah (S). She was the only representation of Muslims in her high school; dealing with (sometimes cruel) ignorance and the pressure of being “the only Muslim” only solidified her faith. Her role in her Muslim community is equally impressive. She set a wonderful example for the younger girls of her community by working extremely hard in academics and being the first to enroll in a top university. Among our friends, Noura is the one who challenges us to improve our faith, to evaluate our intentions, and to think deeply about what we believe. We often to refer to her as “Mama Noura” for her soft heart and the way she takes care of everyone.”

My name is Noura and I’m currently a 21-year-old Egyptian-American Duke University student. I am studying Psychology and Cultural Anthropology and hope to one day work in the mental health non-profit development sector. Along the way, I hope to get a PhD in Clinical Psychology so that I can learn how to develop evidenced based packages of care in low resource communities.

I am passionate about fixing homelessness (in it’s varied and multidimensional definitions and components), large data sets that lead to logistic regressions, literature reviews, and providing oxytocin to others. I’m really silly and dorky and in my free time think of bad jokes to tell people. This summer I was in Jordan and Lebanon working on research with refugees to inform my senior thesis in Psychology.

Keep reading for the full interview at Haute Hijab.