By Omar Thabet
On Thursday, May 15th, the American Association of Yemeni Students and Professionals (AAYSP) held their 15th annual Scholarship GALA at Lincoln Manor Hall in Lincoln Park.
During the event, AAYSP recognized community members, educators and students with awards for their hard work and commitment to a better future.
When asked what keeps them going, Adeeb Mozip, who is the President of AAYSP’s National Chapter, said it’s the students.
“Seeing the students graduate from high school and going to places they never dreamed of is what keeps us going,” Adeeb mentioned. “Thinking about ourselves when we were their age and now, we are trying to open doors so that the younger generation can go places that we never had.”
Hesham Aldhaibani, who is the President for AAYSP’s Michigan chapter, also believes the students are the driving force on what keeps this organization going for so long.
“We do this mostly because we see how it impacts the life of the students,” Aldhaibani said. “You get a feeling of accomplishment that you made somebody’s life easier.”
In attendance at the GALA were a bunch of city officials, board members, students, educators and community leaders from around the area.
One attendant was Hamtramck School Board member Mohamed Algehaim.
We asked Mr. Algehaim what his thoughts were on the event, and he said “I am very impressed. This is my second year attending this event, and the whole AAYSP team does a great job of making their attendees feel welcome. And the fact they are giving out awards and scholarships to community members makes it that much more special.”
The keynote speaker of the event, Hanaa Omar, was dropping gems on leadership and the importance of having ambition in life.
Over 25 people/organizations received an award or scholarship at the 15th Annual AAYSP GALA.
They are all listed below:
Administrators of the Year Award
-Dr. Khalid Almasnaah
-Dr. Keith Morris
Hamtramck CITY F.C. was awarded the community members of the year award
 
Community Members of the Year Award
-AIM Michigan Soccer Club
-Hamtramck City Football Club
AIM Michigan Soccer club was awarded the community members of the year award
 
Teachers of the Year Award
-Adam Haenlein
-Genevieve Sullivan
-Nicole Rodriguez
-Hanan Muhsin
-Mohamed Sabra
-Janet Smith
-Faten Hezam
-Heather Bauman
AIM Michigan Soccer club was awarded the community members of the year award
 
Student Scholarship Recipients 
-Sharefa Aboali
-Hanan Abubaker
-Aya Alhadhuri
-Hamed Alshawhatti
-Mst Begum
-Yahya Ghaleb
-Rawan Mourad
-Husn Ahmed
-Fatemeh Mozip
-Asma Murshed 
-Ahmed Omar
-Omar Obad
-Nada Salany
-Maria Saaidi
-Malek Shiaab
A picture of all the scholarship and award recipients from the 2025 AAYSP Gala
 
Student of the Year: Maria Saadi
Maria Saadi was AAYSP’s 2025 student of the year. 
Maria is a senior at Southgate Anderson High School. During her most recent semester, Maria had a 4.8 grade point average.
Maria plans to attend University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) this upcoming fall semester to pursue a degree in neuroscience with a minor in computer science.
When asked how she felt to win the student of the year award, Maria said, “I feel like receiving this award is just another example of the countless ways the Yemeni community has supported me throughout my academic journey. I feel like this is an inspiration for me to give back to the community even more after I leave for college.”
Being a Yemeni American herself, Maria then added, “Scholarships and gatherings like this gala are inspirations for Yemeni students. Meeting all the professionals makes you realize you’re not the only one striving for excellence, a bunch of people are.”
 
Advice Time
We asked all four interviewees what advice they would give to the students who are graduating out of high school.
These were their responses:
“My advice would be to never stop. It doesn’t matter how long it takes; life goes on. So just go with the flow and if you make a mistake and must go back and redo stuff, do what you need to do and keep going.” – Hesham Aldhaibani
“My advice would be don’t take anything for granted. Don’t take these opportunities that you have for granted. These opportunities only come once in a lifetime, if you lose it, it’s gone.” – Adeeb Mozip
“Hard work pays off. This is not the finish line, this is only the beginning. Keep that mindset and work ethic moving forward. And lastly, be a leader for those people who will be following your footsteps.” -Mohamed Algehaim
“The advice I would give is to not allow the fear of failure stop you from achieving your goals or stop you from trying to achieve your goals.” -Maria Saaidi
 
We at the Yemeni American News want to congratulate all the scholarship recipients and award winners for all the hard work they put in for our communities over the years.
We also would like to thank all the representatives from AAYSP for putting together another magnificent GALA that helped bring all the community members together for a great cause.
 Keep up the great work!
© 2020 YemeniAmerican.com

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