From the Dean: Be Watchful, Restless, and Relentless

by Vince Boudreau, Dean, Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership

Over the years, we’ve brought scores of accomplished men and women to visit students in our leadership programs.  Most of these men and women—businesspeople, policy makers, lawyers and public servants—come with some specific public concern or policy dilemma to discuss. But we always ask them to also talk about their lives, to recount how they have navigated their paths to success. These conversations matter immensely because too many of our students discount the uncertain and contingent character of successful trajectories, mistakenly assuming that the contours of a successful end are evident from the start. In making that mistake, they take themselves out of the picture, imagining that no road leads from where they are to where they want to be.

Join Engineers Without Borders at CCNY

An EWB-CCNY student working in the field.

by Zineb Bouizy, Secretary, Engineers Without Borders-CCNY Chapter

I come from a poor family in Morocco. When I came to the US six years ago, I came alone and did not know any English. I started working full-time to support myself and help my family back in Morocco, and began to pursue my dream of becoming a civil engineer. It was my experience struggling to get the basic necessities in my hometown that led me to engineering as a professional path, and fortunately, I made my way into the Grove School of Engineering at City College. My personal experience is also what drove me to become involved with Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a humanitarian organization that supports the design and implementation of community-driven, sustainable engineering projects worldwide.