Tell us about yourself! What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I’ve always loved diving into thought-provoking books that challenge my perspective and promote personal growth. For example, I recently picked up a copy of “The Federalist Papers” to better understand the ideas that formed our government. I’m also reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People” to learn how to better connect with people both personally and professionally. In my free time, I enjoy immersing myself in art and designing and sewing my own clothes. My entrepreneurial spirit keeps me busy—working at OPAIR, running a side alterations business, and managing a digital healthcare startup. It’s a challenge to switch contexts, but I enjoy it because I get to wear multiple hats—serving alterations clients, learning new technical and management skills, running a startup, and balancing work demands.
Describe your professional history–what led you to working at OPAIR?
Growing up with parents who had low literacy skills, I came to understand the immense value of education and its impact on quality of life. This inspired me to help adults struggling with literacy improve their lives. Volunteering for the International Rescue Committee, Literacy Volunteers, and Lutheran Social Services, I taught newcomers to the U.S. how to read, use computers, and study for the citizenship test. My initial focus on teaching basic reading skills evolved into a broader vision of literacy that is context-specific and essential for adults in various aspects of life.
When I think of literacy, I envision helping all kinds of people, including busy, highly educated professionals, quickly acquire the knowledge and skills needed to navigate specific, specialized areas of their lives.
Working at OPAIR excites me because it allows me to blend my passions and past professional experiences with a new focus on higher education and data literacy.
What does your role look like as an Instructional Designer?
As an instructional designer, I collaborate with subject matter experts to gain an in-depth understanding of new subject areas. My role involves designing digital solutions that enable people to acquire and apply knowledge efficiently and effectively. I focus on adult populations, leveraging adult learning principles to create engaging and practical learning experiences that are integrated into products rather than classroom-based instruction.
My day-to-day tasks include conducting needs assessments by researching and talking to various stakeholders to identify learning needs and the best strategies for addressing them. I develop learning objectives and create instructional solutions tailored to solve specific problems. For example, one of my projects involves developing a SharePoint site that organizes and enhances access to various kinds of institutional data, providing tools and resources for working with the data. My work ensures that the content is accessible, relevant, and impactful for the learners.
Are there any projects you’ve worked on this summer that you’re particularly passionate about?
We are expanding OPAIR-RADAR — OPAIR’s Reporting and Data Analytics Resource! RADAR is a centralized SharePoint site for locating official PSU data, dashboards, reports, and resources for data analysts to create their own queries and dashboards. I feel passionate about this project, which aims to make it easier for Penn State staff and faculty to find the institutional data they need to make informed decisions for their units, ultimately achieving operational excellence and efficiency.
Organizing Penn State data to make it easier to find is a challenging task, but it’s one that excites me and makes coming to work every day rewarding.
We’re halfway through 2024; do you have any personal or professional goals for the rest of the year?
I’m living a classic entrepreneurial story. I ventured away from home to live independently and pursue my own dreams of building a startup in 2023. I was born to and raised by Afghan refugee parents, who had little to no educational background, yet my parents strived to ensure a better life for their kids. My mother is very traditional and encouraged her kids to live traditional lives, such as me and my sisters being encouraged to marry young and raise a family. Being untraditional, I struggled against strict cultural norms to become the first and only woman in my family to receive both a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree.
Last year, I left home and lived in three different states—Arizona, California, and now Pennsylvania—while living independently for the first time in my life. This experience has been an important step forward, and a significant adjustment. My personal and professional goal for the remainder of this year is to establish a solid foundation for building the rest of my life as I’m starting from zero. At OPAIR, I’m looking forward to expanding the OPAIR-RADAR site, helping Penn State data analysts, faculty and staff easily access and better leverage data resources that will help them unlock insights to enhance performance and academic excellence.