Abdulkarem "Karem" Gieblawe
Hometown: Tripoli, Libya
Major: Electrical Engineering
Languages: Arabic, English
Hobbies:
Biography: Karem is an international student from Libya. Karem was born and raised in Tripoli, the capital city of Libya, which is located north of Libya on the Mediterranean Sea. Karem’s parents are both from the natives of Libya and are considered Amazigh. Being a native, he always tries to learn more and educate people about the history of Libya and its culture that goes back to ancient history.
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Karem’s love for traveling and visiting new countries drove him to visit 10 countries between Europe and Africa. In 2014, he decided to study abroad and discover a new continent of the world. Karem came to the U.S in September 2014 to learn English language before starting his B.S in Electrical Engineering. He struggled to order food when he first came to the U.S due to the lack of knowledge about English, but he gained enough knowledge in a year that allowed him to start his academic journey. Throughout his time at PSU, Karem participated and attended many cultural events and held various leadership positions that gave him the opportunity to speak freely about his culture. Being active in a leadership position or attending a cultural event serves as a window for Karem to meet individuals from all the world who are interested in learning more about North Africa and Libya.
In 2016, Karem was selected to be an Orientation Leader at PSU, in which Karem stayed for 2 years and where he gained most of his leadership skills and presentation techniques. In 2018 Karem was offered an undergraduate teaching assistant position from the electrical engineering department to help with the laboratories. In spring 2020, Karem co-founded the Robotics program for the ICP community that targeted children to teach those coding using LEGO EV3 tool, the program is set to run all year long. In June 2020, Karem graduated with his B.S in Electrical Engineering and landed an Electrical Engineering position with Novus Labs. Starting fall 2020, Karem will be a Graduate Teaching Assistant and will be working toward his M.S degree in Electrical Engineering - RF/Analog. Despite all of his accomplishments, Karem is mostly proud of that he now can order food clearly and without any problem.
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Even though Karem has been so lucky to be part of many cultural events, he’s still eager to attend more in the next year at PSU and Oregon in general. He believes that being part of the ICSP team will provide him with many opportunities to satisfy his desire and complete his mission.