Listening to Farah’s experience as an entrepreneur was very interesting because her story was something I never would have expected. Starting off in a French school here in Morocco and constantly being pushed towards the goal of moving out of Morocco to study and work in France, seems like something that would have been very hard to get away from, as it would alienate you from the rest of your peers within the system. Still, Farah took pretty much the exact opposite of the traditional path by studying Arabic, and I think it shows how creating your own path can be the best way to become successful and fulfilled in life.

Not being afraid of what others think also seemed to be a key to Farah’s entrepreneurial success, as there were many instances where she made decisions that put her under scrutiny she could have avoided. Whether it be studying Arabic like I already mentioned, or quitting her job as a teacher at the French school no one else usually ever resigned from, Farah was not afraid to go against the norm to achieve her goals.

The cross-cultural team exercise was another interesting look at entrepreneurship, where we got to work with Moroccan university students on a business pitch. Having a team mixed with Americans and Moroccans who have had differing experiences growing up made brainstorming ideas for our company and learning about each other a lot of fun. It was actually surprising how similar our experiences as college students have been, seeing they face many of the same issues we do at Pitt such as finding affordable housing and widely accessible, reliable transportation.

Getting to see all the groups come together and present at the end was my favorite part of the day, and in such a short time, everyone was able to come up with compelling ideas while making connections with the Moroccan students. I think that in the coming years of Plus3 Morocco, the program could be made even better by incorporating more sessions like this, as it was a great experience to meet and work with other students abroad.