CAPAx Captivates the Audience in the AUK Auditorium

The Center for Academic and Professional Advancement (CAPA) put on its second annual CAPAx event on January 29. Held in the auditorium of the American University of Kurdistan (AUK), CAPAx featured 10 CAPA students speaking on a variety of topics, some as individuals, others in teams.

Prefatory remarks by Aram Omar, Student Government President, and Jarjis Jarjis, Professional Development Manager at CAPA, set the agenda and outlined the competition. Four judges would base their selection of a winner on quality of content, speaking abilities, and significance of topic. Students from CAPA’s Young Learners Program introduced the presenters.

Speaking first were last year’s victors, Sada Salim and Sereen Hadi. Their presentation, “The Last Sound Was the Screams in the Car,” proposed methods to reduce car accidents in Duhok: educating youths about responsible driving, making driving licenses tougher to attain, improving roads, and embracing Kurdistan’s railway plans.

Chirakhan Faraj urged the AUK and wider Kurdistan communities: “Do Something Drastic, Cut the Plastic.” She advocated for a full commitment to recycling and reusing bottles for water. She sees no further use for “one-use” packaging.

Eman Hikmat and Basse Hashim spoke on a moral imperative: “Be kind to every kind, not just mankind.” They called for humane treatment of stray animals by individuals and a commitment to shelters and animal hospitals by the government.

Areen Omer’s message was clear: “Shop Local to Grow Your Community.” She wishes for others in Kurdistan to be “locavores” as she is, enjoying, for example, the apples from north of Duhok and the pomegranates from south of Zakho. Such a shift in consumption would reduce the carbon footprint connected to the importation and transportation of goods and simultaneously stimulate the local economy.

“The Sun Is a Big Battery,” elucidated Mohammed Omar. With how sunny Kurdistan is (“for 3 ½ seasons”) and the wattage of the Sun (“10,000 times more energy than the whole planet’s population uses”), he argued for Kurdistan’s rapid conversion to a “hybrid system” of on-grid and off-grid power.

Soz Zana and Shahnaz Ismat asked: “Is Age Just a Number?” The presentation was light on the physiological research, but it was very heavy on its advocacy for a positive attitude, helping a person feel young and stay productive throughout life.

Mahshad Murad declared: “To Educate a Woman Is to Educate an Entire Generation.” She paraphrased Loucine Hayes, CAPA Director: “Women have many roles and can perform them better if educated.” She pointed to two other female leaders on the AUK campus: Library Director Gulan Ahmed and Human Resources Director Zaina Aladham. Her emphasis was on the need for females to be educated rather than married off before adulthood.

In the adjudication period, there were several more speakers. Student Government’s Dalal Abdullah recited an Arabic poem on the importance of knowledge. Loucine Hayes praised the pertinence of the topics to Kurdistan. AUK President Randall Rhodes pointed out how impressive it was that students who had not yet begun their Bachelor’s programs delivered presentations evidencing so much skill in critical thinking and communication. All of the presenters were winners, but Areen Omer, champion of local produce, was chosen as the victor of CAPAx 2023.