Senior John-Paul Ghobrial was awarded a Marshall fellowship last week, marking the first time in six years that a Tufts student was recognized with the prestigious honor.
Ghobrial will use the award, which is sponsored by the British Council, to study at Oxford University for a master's degree in modern Middle Eastern studies.
"Being Egyptian, I've always been interested in the area," he said. "I'm primarily interested in the interplay between Arab culture and political and economic development - the way we perceive other nations has a lot to do with how we interact with them."
Dean of the Colleges Charles Inouye said that Ghobrial, an international relations and French double major, personifies Tufts. Ghobrial is now working on his senior thesis on French nationalism, is the student leader of the French house, and participates in community service organizations.
"He is broadly educated," Inouye said. "He appreciates diversity and is internationally-minded. He is serious about his studies. He is a community leader. We're proud of John-Paul and grateful for the example he provides for those who will follow."
In studying the modern Middle East, Ghobrial said he hopes to research what is common between East and West. "One of the things that interests me is that the Western world is always described as being different from the Islamic world," he said. "I'm not studying the Middle East to show how it's different... I study it to learn about the trends that interconnect us all."
"I truly believe that people are more similar than they are different - there are basic concepts that everyone wants," he added.
Inouye said he hopes that Ghobrial will be one of many scholars to achieve similar recognition in the future. "There are many students like John Paul here at Tufts," he said. "I see a wave of talented young people who are here because they know this is best place to get the special kind of education they need."
The council awards 30 scholarships each year to go toward two years of study at a British university. The council takes into account "academic excellence" with a minimum 3.7 GPA after freshman year, extracurricular activities, and "a clear plan of study that fits into long term goals," according to the council's description of the fellowship.
Although he had high grades throughout his Tufts career, Ghobrial said he is troubled by the high GPA requirement for the fellowship. "In my opinion that is a bad thing," he said. "I wish it didn't matter as much. Just because you didn't have the right letters and numbers doesn't mean you're not creative."
The last Tufts student to win the award in 1995, Ara Barsam (LA '96), went on to research philosophy and theology at Magdalen College in Oxford. In addition to Ghobrial, three other Tufts students applied for Marshall fellowships this year.
For future Marshall applicants, Ghobrial's advice is to be straightforward. "You need to have a clear idea of what you want to do," he said. "Be sincere, don't just try to please them, and try to show them that this is something that you have been interested in a long time."
