You have made it to my favorite corner of the website. Meet Duha, outside the lab. Know more about my hobbies, volunteering experience, and business ventures.
I enjoy trying out new activities every now and then, from sports, to art, to technology, to language. I spend a lot of time navigating different interests and learning a little about everything.
Some of the activities I tried out included: videography, photography, photo & video editing, calligraphy, programming, videogaming, cooking, travelling, Start-ups, learning a third language (French), reading, chess, graphic design, science communication, Thai boxing, swimming, skiing, skating, basketball, soccer, curling, and dancing.
Out of these, I only continue to pursue a handful; photography/videography, programming, reading, scientific graphic design and videogaming. The pandemic has made it difficult to pursue outdoor activities for the past year but am hoping to try snowboarding in 2022!
I always enjoyed programming but never thought of pursuing it beyond college classes. That’s until the pandemic forced all of us to spend unhealthy amount of time in our homes. I took Udemy courses on HTML & CSS and built the following food blog
I also learned a little python programming from Dr. Chuck Severance’s Coursera course and wrote simple scripts that could read, parse and extract data from text. I was able to apply what I learned to my field and wrote a short script that could read a small length of a DNA sequence and find repeats of 5 consecutive sequences and enumerate how often they are seen in that stretch of DNA.
Disclaimer: this website was not codded from scratch but rather with WordPress & Elementor.
Taking photos literally forces one to look for beauty all around them. This is why I continue to take photos as a hobbyist. It’s a constant reminder that despite everything, the world we live in is filled with beauty. Check out some of my photos here
When I need to deliver a message, my first thought is always to make it into a video, hence, I have a few videos out there; check them out here.
One thing that I may be as passionate about as science -if not a tiny bit more- is giving back. We as Sudanese deeply value our communities and our social lives. I grew up in a household that always encouraged me to help those around me and give back to my community. That’s how my deep desire to volunteer was nurtured. Throughout my life I volunteered for more activities that I could remember. I would like to share a few prominent ones.
Social Media Content Creation – Sudanese Diaspora Network
The current events in Sudan have been troubling me, I felt a desperate need to help my people go through the current instability in any way I can. As a result, I reached out to Sudanese Diaspora Network (SDN) and joined them their team as content creator. My duties includes:
Organizer – Infection & Immunity Week, Student Day
I helped organized the student research day, part of the infection and immunity week; a McGill bicentennial signature event. My contributions included:
International Buddy Program
I was drawn to the program’s vision to help international student settle in McGill and find a home in Montreal. I helped 3 students, who eventually became good friends, throughout the fall semester. I assisted them in:
VP Social – McGill Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Student Association
As VP social, my main objective was to improve student life and engagement throughout the department. Some the steps I took to address my objectives were to:
Since I was a middle schooler, I always wanted to run my own little enterprise. I recall getting into trouble in school because I was re-selling candy to other students at a price higher than that of the market. I was practically ripping off children. I grew a lot since then and changed my ways.
In 2017 I started planning a start-up project with a friend. Our goal was to deliver a product that solves a few major deficiencies in Qatar’s online-market services. We created an online marketplace to collect local store owners who mostly used Instagram to promote and sell their products. Although Instagram has considerably adapted the platform to boost online stores, it remains difficult to find Qatar’s local stores on the app. We had a bumpy journey navigating the tech industry, understanding the basics of creating web solutions and building a company from the ground up. After tremendous effort, we launched a minimal viable product (MVP) in September of 2020.
I cannot emphasize how steep the learning curve is for a growing business. One of the most important lessons I learned during this entire adventure is that running a business of this scale is a full-time job. However, I was already a full-time graduate student. I found myself to be stretched too thin and decided along with my partner to press hold on the project until we can truly give it the time it deserves.
Visit qarqish.com to check out the MVP and view the products our amazing partners were selling on the platform.