We love to learn from our alumni and this global Alumni Engagement blog features Penn State’s remarkable global alumni on a weekly basis. This week we interview Maraki Shimelis Kebede ’20 for our weekly Global Alumni Spotlight column.
Dr. Maraki Shimelis Kebede is an education researcher currently based in Montreal, Canada. Originally came from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Dr. Maraki received her dual-title Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Comparative and International Education from Penn State University in 2020. She studied the experiences of minoritized and immigrant students and educational equity in international development efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. Maraki completed her Master’s in International Education and Development at George Washington University and her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry at the University of Maryland–College Park.
What made Penn State stand out as the place you wanted to pursue your graduate degree?
I was initially drawn to Penn State because of its Comparative and International Education Degree (CIED) program. The CIED program is unique in that it isn’t a stand-alone program. Instead, it is designed to provide existing students with a structured way to apply an interdisciplinary and international lens to their studies. So, students are required to be admitted into another home program before they can apply to the CIED program. While housed in the College of Education, the program is not limited to education students. For instance, several CIED students from the College of Agricultural Sciences are doing fascinating work.
I’ve always been very passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Life doesn’t happen in the siloed ways we establish our educational institutions today, so it only makes sense that our learning doesn’t either. I picked Penn State because I felt that I would have a richer experience from a university that prioritized bridging fields in this way.
What is your current job? What has Penn State’s education (education and student leadership experiences) supported your capabilities toward your current career?
I’m currently spending my days writing as an independent scholar. I work alongside former Penn State colleagues and professors to publish on social justice issues in education and beyond. As a new mother navigating a new country during a pandemic, these meaningful connections I built at Penn State have allowed me to stay productive and maintain strong ties to my field as I take time to grow my family.
Tell us about a couple of Penn State moments that carry with you now.
My painful Penn State moments, which I would have expected to be the hardest to think back on, are today the ones I cherish the most—not because of the adversity itself but because of the level of support that followed it. Watching how even just a handful of those in my Penn State circle were ready and willing to be there for me allowed me to feel more safe and connected. Being one of a handful of Black students in my department and living in a city like State College, which looked a lotless like me than the places I was used to, it was very easy to feel isolated and struggle to find a sense of belonging. So when difficult moments arose, they hit harder. For me, these moments at Penn State were almost always followed by friends and professors who rallied behind me in ways that I continue to appreciate today.
Sometimes the adversity was just a part of the learning process. Many doctoral students talk about how the dissertation defense is the most painful part of the post-graduate journey. Still, I was fortunate enough to have had an advisor and committee that invested in me and my future in a holistic way. Their commitment to my success was not unhealthily entangled with their own. It went beyond just pushing me to strive for academic accolades; they also embraced me as a person on a social and emotional journey. My advisor always told me not to forget that the entire defense process was not designed to corner me but to help me learn all I could from my committee to strengthen my work. He spent as much time pushing me academically as he did supporting me emotionally—which was no easy task as I was seven months pregnant when I defended my dissertation. He wanted to make sure that my nerves wouldn’t keep me from leveraging this valuable resource (i.e., having the undivided attention of a group of leaders in my field) to help me improve upon my work.
Other times, the adversity resulted from prejudice: Early in my time at Penn State, I was discriminated against at a local bar in State College because of my race and international status. Fortunately, I was able to confide in my international friends, some of whom shared similar stories with me about that same bar and others around it. Once I noticed this was a pattern, I reached out to two of my Penn State professors who work in anti-bias work and community building. Not only were they supportive, but they provided me with suggestions of very concrete ways I can navigate and work to address the issue. One professor helped me get both legal and emotional support to present my case at a Campus and Community Unity (CCU) meeting, a university-community alliance established to address issues that concern both Penn State and State College. And the other professor presented my case on my behalf at a high-level platform within Global Programs. Both efforts began a much-needed conversation around the issue and resulted in institutional actions to do things differently and constructively. The former brought business owners into the conversation to allow them to be open to listening, and the latter created institutional awareness at Penn State to support their international students better.
So, while my time at Penn State was not all rosy, I most appreciated the moments where I felt like I had people in my corner going to bat for me when I was down. Despite any hardships at Penn State, being so far away from home and my family, that kind of support helped me feel more like a part of the community.
What’s one thing that Penn State alumni can do to support today’s students?
I think alumni need to have more meaningful connections with current students – get to know them and connect with a few individually, instead of the more disconnected forms of engagement we often see today. However, the responsibility to bridge this relationship lies both on alumni and the institution. For alumni, the responsibility is the willingness to carve out that time to dedicate to current students. For Penn State as an institution, the responsibility is twofold:
-
- The seeds to engage alumni must be planted before Penn State students become alumni. Graduating students in their final years should be encouraged to participate in mentorship programs or get involved in the learning and integration of juniors in their programs (some departments already do this). Then, once they graduate, programs should create opportunities to maintain those relationships. This allows current students to navigate their studies better and build professional bridges that they can later leverage. Also, it helps alumni maintain their extensive network in ways that they can leverage in their professional spheres. For instance, mentoring experiences can offer many transferable skills for alumni interested in leadership positions in their respective workplaces.
- That brings me to the second institutional responsibility. Alumni work is often seen as a one-way stream (i.e., alumni giving back to their alma mater—often monetarily). Still, I’ve honestly gained so much from Penn State (specifically, my Penn State community) since I graduated. So I think alumni engagement should be reframed as a win-win agenda and as a way to maintain meaningful connections and opportunities for the benefit of both current students and alumni. I believe alumni will be more willing to engage with current students when their participation is framed in this way.
Tell us a bit of your current life, such as your family, hobbies and/or community engagement.
Writing is my passion. It is where I find peace and a sense of comfort, and it always has been. I feel fortunate that I have a hobby that I cannot only leverage in my professional life (in publishing research and other works) but also that I have a hobby that can’t be taken away from me by the COVID-19 pandemic. I have many friends whose hobbies are indoor social activities like team sports but could not enjoy their favorite pastimes during quarantine.
I’m also currently looking to get involved in the leadership of my son’s daycare. I’ve been fortunate to have studied educational leadership under professors who applied what they counsel in their academic work—specifically, building school-community relationships—within their personal lives. And I feel privileged to mirror that now as a parent myself.
What skills or traits should our students develop to help them succeed in a global job market?
I want to first reiterate my point about interdisciplinary thinking at the beginning of this interview. Students should enroll in classes outside of their programs and their departments to connect with peers and professors in other fields. They should work with their advisors to think critically about which other areas (no matter how seemingly distant) may inform their interests within their fields. I think that’s how they can stand out from their competitors and increase their chances of embarking upon less explored ways of making that transition to employment.
Second, I’d suggest applying early for jobs—the market is tough, and getting a head start is essential. This could mean developing professional relationships by interning while in school with an employer that they would consider joining more permanently after they graduate. Along the same lines, I’d also suggest applying for anything and everything they find interesting. They shouldn’t overthink every criterion listed on job posts; if they are interested in the position and would generally be a good fit, they should apply. It’s surprising the hiring decisions employers make.
What are your two pieces of advice for our international students to become a global-minded citizen?
As an international student, I grew the most meaningful friendships with people from other places different from my own. So I would first encourage international students to branch out and look for ways to meet other international students from other areas. Along the same lines, I would also suggest they apply this thinking academically (not just socially). They should explore their academic interests and fields of study in different contexts internationally (not just in their own country or the US but in other places and globally). —There are so many professors at Penn State who work on an international scale, so I would suggest that international students seek these professors out and think of ways to expand the context of the work they are exploring in their classes.
Second, I would advise them to find an opportunity to do a semester/summer/winter abroad. It can be for work, coursework, research, or something else as there are many different ways to get experience abroad relevant to their intended profession affordably. However, I would encourage them to go somewhere outside the US that’s not their home country.
Do you plan to visit Penn State after the pandemic is over? If so, what would you like to do after you arrive on campus?
I have every intention of maintaining my connection with my professors. I would love an opportunity to visit them in person when the pandemic subsides and when I have a better handle on motherhood. That said, I think the first thing I would do upon arrival is grab a Mac ‘n’ Cheese from Legend’s Pub at The Penn Stater.