Global Builders volunteer from Penn State-Schuylkill is no fan of “no”
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pennsylvania — If anyone has earned a day off, it’s Malak Mowafi.
After all, she has doubled up on her academic career at Penn State University’s Skhuylkill campus, double-majoring in criminal justice and cybersecurity analytics and operations and double-minoring in sociology and security risk and analysis.
She has been equally busy on the athletic front. She has played for PSU-Schuylkill’s women’s basketball team since her freshman year and later became captain of the school’s cross-country and track teams. If that weren’t enough to keep her heart pounding, she also was a founding member of the school’s first flag football team and co-founded its Pickleball Club.
She’s also a peer tutor and peer academic coach, is in the school’s Honors Program, is vice president of the Criminal Justice Club and is involved in the National Cybersecurity Association.
So what kinds of things does she do in her “free” time? Why, volunteer to help others, of course! One of the many ways she has served is with The Fuller Center for Housing’s Global Builders program, through which she and a few school mates served in Portugal last year — building homes for refugee families. She liked the experience so much that she has signed up to go on another trip this year, to Romania.
Mowafi says it’s all part of her don’t-say-no philosophy.
“That’s kinda how I live my life,” she said. “I try not to limit the opportunities that are thrown my way. I barely have time to sleep, but I love the chaos. I love everything that I’ve been doing, and I wouldn’t do anything differently.”
Many of Mowafi’s childhood memories of growing up in Egypt involve helping people in need, something her family stressed was important.
“I started community service with my family when I was younger in Egypt,” she remembered, noting she came to the U.S. around age 9. “It kind of came from the community we lived in and our religion. With a lot of the holidays there, community service was what my family did. Getting that from an early age and translating that from more of a religious thing to a school and community service here was really easy to do. I always had the passion for it. I’m also translating it into my future career — hopefully doing something in public policy or public service.”
Her Egyptian childhood proved to be quite relevant during the Portugal trip because one of the refugee families partnering to build a Fuller Center home there is from Syria.
“I speak fluent Arabic, and that was the only way we could communicate with them,” Mowafi said. “That was really cool to experience. It made everything a lot more rewarding. It’s one thing to do community service, but it’s another to actually see the impact you’re making and how it will impact families in the future. It was honestly very fulfilling.”
Her upcoming trip to Romania will provide a unique opportunity for her to practice leadership and organizational skills as her team will work alongside students from a local technical school in Cluj.
“I wanted to do another trip before I left Penn State,” she said. “Having a lot of different students every day will be a good opportunity to collaborate and see how we can all come together for a common purpose.”
Mowafi insists that international travel — whether for education, service or for leisure — is crucial for furthering understanding of the world and its many different cultures.
“I grew up very fortunate,” she said. “My family took us traveling at a young age, even before I got to America. It’s very beneficial. It’s a moment to grow. You get to see other cultures. You’re not restricted to what you’ve grown up with.”
The Fuller Center’s Global Builders program has long touted being a vehicle to explore other cultures off the well-trodden tourist paths.
“Especially when you’re embedded in the local community like with the Global Builders, it’s not just a touristy visit,” she said. “You get to see how other people live and what they experience on a daily basis — the food they eat, all the traditions they have. That was really rewarding. I think traveling in general and embedding yourself in the local communities is how it should be instead of just doing the touristy stuff.”
Just as important as travel in shaping Mowafi’s path are the many sports that have also kept her busy through the years. Teamwork is important for Global Builders teams to be successful, and teamwork is something she knows a lot about through her many athletic endeavors.
“There are so many skills that I’ve learned from sports and just being active throughout my life,” she said. “Every single team teaches you a different skill and something you need for your academic and professional careers and just being a better person overall. There’s just so many experiences and so many ups and downs that you go through that I think it makes you a better person.”
We'd love to hear your comments!