Mehdy Slama
Meet this month’s student spotlight: Mehdy Slama. Mehdy recently spent a memorable spring break in Sarasota, Florida, where he volunteered for a week at the Glasser-Schoenbaum Human Service Center. The center, co-founded by the late Betty Schoenbaum, a longtime supporter of Fisher, houses 20 non-profits that provide services ranging from fighting hunger and human trafficking to promoting education within the Sarasota population.
The annual spring break service trip is organized through FisherCares, Fisher’s community service organization, in partnership with Buck-I-SERV. This was Mehdy’s second year participating in the trip, and this year he served as a leader with the group. His first assignment of the week was at the Early Learning Coalition (ELC), which aims to create high quality early learning environments for people in the area. With ELC, the FisherCares group helped fill bags with school supplies and assisted with marketing materials. The group also worked with More Too Life (MTL), a non-profit dedicated to helping sex trafficking victims. The students on the trip provided MTL with data analysis insights. Working with ELC and MTL, Mehdy’s eyes were opened as he learned of some of the struggles that others are enduring. The FisherCares group worked with other non-profits throughout the week and spent some of their free time at the beach. They built quite the comradery as they spent time bonding throughout the week.
For Mehdy, giving back isn’t only about volunteering through FisherCares. He also works as a business analytics teaching assistant, helping students with class material during office hours and recitation. Mehdy is also a Fisher Ambassador, giving tours to prospective students visiting the college and answering their questions. He makes himself available to help these students, drawing on many of his own experiences during his time at Fisher.
Outside of giving back, Mehdy is a finance and international business major. He is looking forward to beginning his consulting career with Accenture after graduation and is excited to see where life takes him. He’s eager to find new ways to make an impact, and he has a dream of owning his own consulting firm that provides pro bono services to non-profits.
When asked a topic on which he’d like to deliver a TED Talk, Mehdy’s answer wasn’t the least bit surprising.
“Living for other people”
It’s easy to separate yourself from other people while you’re chasing success, he said. Mehdy believes that life isn’t just about living for yourself and trying to get ahead. If you want to get ahead, you should pull others with you and help them along.
“A journey with somebody else is better than a journey on your own.”
