Laith Salma is a student from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He is currently studying just about any discipline he can get his hands on at the moment. While there has been an emphasis lately on internal medicine, the truth is that there’s no real hurry one way or the other. He is enjoying his time in New York, and figuring out what exactly he wants to do – as most students do.
Do not let his relative youth fool you. He may be a younger man than most of the people who are studying in New York’s universities. But that doesn’t mean he’s any less a scholar than anyone else. The truth is that he is here, in New York, because he outpaced all of the schools that were set up for him in Saudi Arabia.
His father, a wealthy oil executive, decided that if his son was going to do anything with his life, it would be better to do it in a place where he could learn as much about everything as he could. And if he was going to learn so much, he would have to do it in the most interesting place in the world. Thus, when these ideas were presented to Laith Salma, it should surprise no one that he chose America to do his studies. And it should surprise no one that he picked the most interesting city in the country to do his studies in.
There was more to the decision than just study, though. There really was. Laith Salma understands that. His father is in the oil business. That is very much an international business, and something that has a great many repercussions all over the world. If Salma is to come up into the business, as his father is hoping he will, then he’s going to have to be ready to approach it as an international thing. That means understanding other cultures, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean embracing them.
Laith Salma seems to be up for the challenge. Not only is he engaging the culture of the city where he is, he is also not being consumed by it. He can go out to a club on Thursday night and still make mosque services on Friday evening without a guilty conscience. That is something that not everyone can say. It feels good to him to be able to do that kind of thing.
And for the most part, he has other ways of engaging with the culture where he is. He enjoys all kinds of physical activity. His big favorites are soccer and running. He doesn’t have the grit to get involved in rugby, although he has played a game or two of pick up football. He has also taken a liking to ultimate frisbee as well.
On his weekends, he loves traveling all over the city. He tries not to act like a tourist, but he does try to get into what the city’s deal is and to ultimately understand the place where he is. That means understanding the history of the place and why it is the way it is.
He loves every second of it.
He is currently studying just about any discipline he can get his hands on at the moment. While there has been an emphasis lately on internal medicine, the truth is that there’s no real hurry one way or the other. He is enjoying his time in New York, and figuring out what exactly he wants to do – as most students do.