Monday 25th June 2010 began the 6 day excursion to Beirut with the Division of Student Affairs and eight PMU students who visited three of Lebanon’s distinguished universities.
American University of Beirut (AUB) Host: Dr. Tarek Naw’was
Lebanese American University (LAU) Host:Dr. Maryam Ghandour
University Of Balamand (UOB) Host:Dr. Antoine N. Gergess, Ms. Maya Nabti
The exchange visit is part of PMU’s goal to provide its students with continued enriching knowledge to encourage intellectual and personal growth, by sharing and enhancing our student’s engagement with other institutions. Mr Omar Elmoussa remarked "We inspire our students to work as a team and to take responsibility amongst other things that they have learned, to further expand their personal skills".
From the first to the last university we were received with warm and welcoming receptions. We were given a guided tour of all the universities in which they displayed their finest features. The PMU delegation met with all the departments, clubs and associations and was able to share and exchange valuable ideas on issues pertaining to:
Campus life, leadership programs, types of scholarships, student exchange programs, club’s and societies, healthcare and counselling and career services including the alumni. This provided a good insight into the factors that influenced prospective students when choosing where to study. The visit’s culminated with an exchange of gifts and a bid farewell from both sides.
The views and thoughts of our students are highly regarded, so after each visit a group discussion was held with PMU student’s representatives to find out what they had learned and what they found most inspiring during the visit.
Towards the end of the excursion there was time to take in some of the bewildering sites of the Cosmopolitan city. Beirut referred to as the “pearl of the orient”, is a city of diversity and difference with education as its ancestral tradition. Beirut has been destroyed and rebuilt seven times some say it’s the death deifying city, aside from all this, there is plenty to love about this immortal city surging like the phoenix from its ashes. It was a trip of invaluable experience and self exploration.
