Zein Faheem: Curiosity and connection

Growing up and attending high school in Cairo, Egypt, Zein Faheem was determined to make his own path.

His school had a rigid and fairly narrow curriculum that didn’t quite span the breadth of his interests, he said. But with a bit of persistence, Faheem managed to cobble together his own course of study.

“I lobbied and petitioned, and petitioned and lobbied,” Faheem said. “I ended up taking a really weird mix of classes that no one else was doing. Having invented my own ‘open curriculum’ in high school, it made a lot of sense to end up here at Brown.”

Once he made his way to College Hill, Faheem, true to form, took full advantage of Brown’s Open Curriculum —no lobbying required. In his admissions essay, he wrote that he wanted to explore his interest in his native Egypt from every possible angle.

“Four years later, I actually fulfilled that promise,” he said. “I examined Egypt through economics, Middle East studies, international affairs, archaeology, Arabic language, film, architecture and comparative literature. I got a holistic understanding of Egypt through various lenses, exactly like I said I would.”

Ultimately, he decided that the questions that intrigued him most dealt with his home country’s economy. Faheem declared an applied mathematics-economics concentration, which is designed to equip students with the mathematical tools to analyze key questions in micro and macroeconomics.

“I saw Egypt struggle through some economic uncertainty at times,” Faheem said. “And there were so many unanswered questions: What does this all mean? Why is this all happening? Why are things fine sometimes, and then they’re not other times? And I think broadly, that brought me to economics.”

But his interests don’t end at the Egyptian border, or at the intersection of math and economics. Faheem said one of the most rewarding academic pursuits during his time at Brown was a Group Independent Study Project titled “Learning with AI.” Along with two fellow students and a faculty adviser, Faheem designed and co-taught a course taken this semester by 25 students.

“I wanted to create an environment for me and other students to see where and how AI has a role in education — and if it has a role at all,” Faheem said.

Throughout the semester, students and instructors experimented with various AI tools to see if they could raise their scores on baseline assessments in subjects from physics to French. The group will compile their findings in a report for Brown’s associate provost for AI, which could help to inform Brown’s approach to AI moving forward.

“I think, anecdotally, the number one thing I learned is you have to want to learn,” he said. “There’s never going to be a replacement for human effort, but these tools could be massively helpful, and we may need to rethink how students are assessed.”

Faheem’s drive to learn has not been confined to the classroom — his interactions with fellow students outside of class have been an equal partner in his Brown education. He has immersed himself in as many campus activities as he could fit in. He was president of the Brown Union of Global Students, senior adviser to the Brown Investment Group and vice president of the Bruno Finance Society, along with a myriad of entrepreneurial ventures. He saw his participation in those activities as a way of giving back to the Brown community.

“I’ve seen firsthand how helpful this community is and how much people are willing to support each other,” he said. “I’ve had massive help from the people I’ve known at Brown. And so those clubs felt like a way for me to give something back to that community.”

It’s those relationships with the people who helped him, and those who he has helped in turn, that came to define his Brown experience, he says. That’s part of the message of his upcoming Commencement address. He’ll urge his fellow graduates to not let those moments of human connection get lost to the hustle of everyday life.

“It’s about intentionality and the importance of making time for other people,” Faheem said. “That’s how we made Brown ours, and that’s how you’ll make wherever you go next yours. It’s what keeps us open to new thoughts and new adventures.”

Faheem says he’s grown immensely over the past four years, and though his days as a student at Brown are nearing an end, he’ll always carry a bit of Brown with him. After graduation, he will start a position in investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

“I feel more ready to contribute to society,” Faheem said. “But beyond that, Brown has given me amazing friends and an amazing network of people who are the most helpful, kindest people in the world.”

Caelle Joseph: Building community and belonging

As a first-generation college student, Caelle Joseph didn’t arrive at Brown expecting a feeling of belonging to come easily, but her four years on College Hill proved her power to create it for herself and others.

“A lot of people assume that belonging is something you walk into,” said Joseph, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in international and public affairs and business economics. “But it’s not something that’s given to you — it’s something you have to build and invest in, with people, with effort, with care.”

That idea is the theme of the speech she will deliver as a senior orator in a moment that will represent more than her individual achievement.

“I wanted to have representation for first-generation students,” said Joseph, who is Haitian American. “Sometimes, just seeing another Black woman on stage — it’s like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.’”

Born in Haiti, Joseph moved to the U.S. in 2010 following a catastrophic earthquake that displaced her family and is among the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. At age 7, she arrived in Boston without knowing how to speak English. Even at a young age, she said, she experienced a sense of imposter syndrome.

“I didn’t know the language, I didn’t understand the culture,” she said. “It was the first time I was surrounded by people who didn’t look like me.”

While her parents navigated a new country, Joseph and her brother often took on adult responsibilities, from translating conversations to managing complex tasks like completing financial aid forms.

Once she arrived at Brown as a QuestBridge scholar, she quickly connected with other first-generation, low-income students, as well as those who do not hold those identities. She embraced the different communities and worked to expand her networks at Brown. Joseph joined the Students of Caribbean Ancestry organization and took on leadership roles. She worked at the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Career Exploration, where she helped connect students with job opportunities.

“At the career center, I wanted to build pipelines for other students to explore career opportunities, too,” said Joseph, “There are so many resources, but if you don’t know about them, you miss out.”

She lived in the Harambee House living community on campus, where she served on the executive board and helped cultivate a sense of shared history and belonging.

“Being in a space where everyone is investing in each other — it changes your experience,” she said.

Even her creative and entrepreneurial pursuits are fueled by belonging. During her sophomore year, Joseph launched a photography business, Caellestudios, with the goal of increasing the number of Black women photographers on campus: “I remember seniors saying they couldn’t find photographers who looked like them,” she said. “So I wanted to fill that gap.”

What began as a small endeavor has grown into a thriving business, through which she’s photographed everything from graduation portraits to campus events, including those hosted by the student group Fashion@Brown.

The true meaning of community was further amplified for Joseph after the shooting on campus on Dec. 13, when she witnessed students, staff, faculty and members of the Providence community come together in tangible ways, including by offering food, shelter and support.

“That was belonging, too,” she said. “People showing up for each other.”

Commencement will mark a milestone for Joseph’s family. “This is the first college graduation my family will attend — and I’m the one speaking,” Joseph said. “I want to represent the Haitian-American community in a positive light. I want people to feel proud of where they come from.”

As graduation approaches, Joseph is exploring what comes next, whether that means launching a career, enrolling in law school or both. She said that the lessons she’s learned on campus about building community will follow her far beyond Brown.

“Brown gave me the space to figure out who I am,” Joseph said. “And now, I want to keep building spaces like that, wherever I go.”