My name is Tala Karkar (BU '06). In three weeks, I will graduate with my master's degree in public administration (MPA) from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, USA. As I prepare for this important, upcoming event in my life, I face the most difficult task that I know: Packing.

Packing is hard work. It involves lengthy and tedious tasks, and it requires making difficult decisions like determining what to take and what to leave behind. Somehow, there never seems to be enough time to do everything that needs to be done. But more importantly, packing represents change. In my case, I'm finishing graduate school and returning home.

Asked what she would be doing if she weren’t the Head of Special Education and Community Programs at the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR), Rima Canawati (BU ’86) replies, “when I graduated from Bethlehem University, I never thought I would take this path.” As an English major with vision impairment, she had no idea what, if any, job she’d be able to get. Still, she’s happy with the choice she made: “I wouldn’t choose another path.”

The path she chose was one of activism and advocacy, of constantly championing the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. It’s also a path she’ll be recognized for this December, during a ceremony in the British House of Lords, when she receives the International Service Human Rights Award.