By Monica Mutale

Masi Alimohammadi will never forget the moment she learned that she had won the inaugural Abdul Majid Bader Graduate Scholarship.

“I got the letter of my selection exactly on my birthday,” she says, “and it was the most incredible birthday gift that I could ever have.”

Masi was on Skype with her mother when she received the news. “I screamed and started to dance,” she says, laughing.

The scholarship was created to support international students, especially those from Iran. Its founder moved to Canada in the 1990s, and was overwhelmed by the warm welcome he received. Through the scholarship his hope was to give back to both his homeland and his adopted country.

Masi, 29, is a PhD student in Geoenvironmental Engineering. She earned her Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Tabriz University and her Master of Environmental Engineering from Tehran University.

A year ago, she and her husband moved to Canada from Iran. The transition was not easy.

“I missed my family,” she says, “and working with new people in a different language was hard for me.”

The cost of living was also higher than expected.

“My husband had to work in a retail job that is not related to his career. He has been sacrificing his career to support me and my research.”

Masi has also been supported by her PhD supervisor, Craig Lake from Dalhousie’s Department of Civil and Resource Engineering. Dr. Lake had no doubts that Masi could benefit from the award, considering her academic and family commitments.

“It’s not always easy coming from so far away to undertake this big cultural change,” says Dr. Lake.

“I know how hard Masi works, and I also know how well she’s done so far at Dal. The whole spirit of the award seemed to be exactly what Masi is about.”

Masi is a teaching assistant in the department, and hopes to become a professor someday. The Bader Scholarship brings her closer to that goal.

“This scholarship lightened my financial burden. It gave me peace of mind. Now I can concentrate on my research, and I can flourish in my studies.”