Zeena Al-Ali

As a School Counselor at the Canadian International School, I play a vital role in guiding students through their personal, academic, and career endeavors within the framework of the International Baccalaureate (IB) system. In collaboration with the head of counseling, I curate skill-focused and academically integrated lessons for both Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) students. My responsibilities include providing individual and group counseling sessions, fostering emotional well-being, facilitating conflict resolution, and offering career guidance in alignment with the IB's holistic approach. I collaborate closely with educators, parents, and administrators to create a supportive environment that addresses students' diverse needs. I am committed to assisting students in developing essential life skills, making informed decisions, and achieving their potential in a multicultural educational setting.

Patcham High School's curriculum focuses on supporting and meeting the needs of SEND and disadvantaged students. As a teaching assistant, I mainly work on a 1:1 basis with students who have IEPs (Individual Education Plans) - many of which have ADHD and/or ASC. I work closely with teachers/ SENCo to provide students with support in a classroom setting while promoting their learning and personal development.

Guildford college offers vocational, further, and higher education courses with qualifications in a wide range of subjects ranging from foundation to degree level. As a learning support assistant, my job is to facilitate teaching and learning support in a classroom environment. I work 1:1 with individuals or with groups of students - assisting them with tasks, supporting them in numeracy and literacy, and encouraging them to build confidence, motivation, and social skills. This also includes learners with learning difficulties and special education needs.

Maria Den Braven is a center for providing a wide range of services including psychotherapy, psychiatry, special education services, speech & language therapy, occupational therapy, and various other services. Through a shadowing experience, I was able to observe therapy sessions for children and adolescents with learning and developmental disabilities done by professional psychologists. Most of the children I was able to observe are on the autistic spectrum. I have also gained knowledge about the process of assessing children and adolescents. The therapy sessions I observed were speech therapy, occupational therapy and special education. From this experience, I was able to gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of psychologists working with children.

Al Rashid Hospital Center is a psychiatric and addiction center offering a variety of treatments to in-patients and out-patients addressing all types of mental health illnesses and problems with substance abuse. Through my experience, I was able to learn about general hospital policies and protocols as well as the standard processes involved in assessing patients. As part of my shadowing, I also observed clinical rounds and consultations of in-patients presenting various conditions and disorders including addiction, bipolar disorder, OCD, depression, MR (intellectual disability), and psychosis.

Managed a book publishing project of a children's book series, and worked closely with the author, editorial team, and printing company to bring the author's vision to life. This involved managing communications, ensuring deadlines are met, working on book animations and implementing strategies necessary for a successful project.

During the summer of 2017, I began working as a sales assistant at the store Navy & Green; which is a Greek brand for men's clothing. My role consisted of merchandising, stock replenishment, assisting shoppers, answering queries and cash handling. As for the summers of 2018 and 2019, I've continued to work as a sales assistant at a different clothing store - Sacoor Brothers. This is a Portuguese clothing retail brand for men, women and children. My job duties expanded to taking customer's measurements, changing the store display, and dealing with stock transfers to other branches. Occasionally, I would play the piano located in the store for customers as well.

- Graduated with Honours - BPS accredited - Completed my dissertation about autism in women: “Performing the Unnatural as Naturally as Possible”: A Thematic Analysis Exploring the Insider Perspective on Autism in Women.

- Advanced Placement Scholar Award – 2017 - High School Honour Roll – 2016-2018 - A-level Arabic certificate - Completed 6 AP courses: Psychology, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, French, Comparative Government, and Calculus AB