Nemat Sadat
Afghanistan 1984 needs no explaining. This was the year in which five year old Nemat Sadat, along with his mother and siblings, escaped from their ravaged country to seek refuge in America. His imprisoned father joined them six years later.
Immigration is a self-selecting Darwinian process and especially so in cases of forced migration. Overcoming discrimination and all the issues associated with cultural and economic dislocation, Nemat’s parents had high hopes for their children as they started their new life in San Diego, California.
So let me introduce this remarkable young man.
Most of us in this journalism class fancy ourselves competent writers. Nemat is quad-lingual, English being his third language after his native Farsi-Dari and German, and French which he speaks equal to English.
Nemat’s academic qualifications include undergraduate degrees in International Business (in German) at CalState University Fullerton, and Near Eastern History and Middle Eastern Politics at the University of California Irvine.
He went on to work in retail banking, in two internet start-ups as customer service manager and as a web analysis German language specialist.
Remember, English is Nemat’s third language in which he is also pursuing his passion for creative fictional writing. He is currently completing a manuscript for his first novel “The Merchant of Gold Rice”.
Most interestingly, as an independent contractor to the US government, Nemat delivers graduate level seminars on Afghanistan to the military at various bases around the country. Cultural Intelligence training for US soldiers is “crucial because misunderstandings of Afghan culture by American soldiers have exacerbated the resurgence of the Taliban” says Nemat. “Culturally aware soldiers serve as a ‘force multiplier’ for their commanders in military terms” and reinforces the prime objective of the American government of “winning the hearts and minds” of the Afghan people.
I asked Nemat, why he chose to pursue a Masters degree in journalism at Harvard? Why embark on a career change at a time of declining media opportunities as newspapers downsize making journalism very competitive and rarely financially rewarding?
Simply, he found it no longer satisfying to work in commercial environments meeting sales and marketing targets. He offered words and phrases like ‘developing his creative thinking’, ‘influence’, ‘challenging ideas’, ‘thinking outside the box’, ‘perspectives’ and ‘policy making’; and wanting to apply his (not inconsiderable) skills to higher ideals born of his bi-cultural heritage and a growing awareness of purpose since participating in the military seminars. He also related a personal experience of post 9/11 discrimination for which he bears no ill-will.
“My reward is more than just monetary compensation or a sense of doing my patriotic duty as a citizen. I carry a strong sense of survivor’s guilt after safely escaping to a better life while my country-people still endure disease, hunger, opium addiction, refugee camps, terrorism, war, and abject poverty. This unrelenting thought is unsettling to me. That’s why I have pursued higher education and hope to use the power of knowledge to counter ignorance and extremism” Nemat writes.
Certainly, higher ideals and life purpose. A unique perspective. An extraordinary American citizen.
(500 words)
anita
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