Know your professor: 'Grandmaster' at work
Know your professor: Meet an interior design expert
The series continues ... Maria E. Kallukaren shows a more fun side to educators in the UAE
Teacher: Linda Nubani
Designation: Assistant professor of interior design
Institute: The American University in Dubai
I love: Chess, playing the piano, skiing, playstation and travelling
How old are you? It's a question students love asking Linda Nubani. But the Palestinian teacher is not telling.
"I promise to tell you once you graduate," is her answer. (Ever wondered why she keeps a low profile during graduation ceremonies?)
Nubani is the youngest faculty member at AUD. She is also the first alumna to join as faculty, having taken her bachelors in interior design from the university. She stood first as an undergraduate.
She hates wasting time and so fills her day with all the activities she loves doing ... beginning with teaching - "the purpose of my life" - a comedy on TV during lunch hour - and playing Crash on her playstation at home in the evening.
And during weekends, two-hour piano sessions on her 20-year-old wall piano in Abu Dhabi.
And yet students stun Nubani by asking: 'Do you have life outside work?'
Piano to me
"It relaxes me. I feel like I'm walking on clouds." Nubani has passed five grades out of eight from the Royal College of Music, London. She was working towards an associate degree until she moved to the US and stopped playing for the duration. "I regret that."
- Skiing - "It has always been my favourite sport. It strengthens your confidence." Nubani reasons that this is because skiing is all about achieving balance and not falling (a sign of failure). "You feel you've succeeded and this is very self-satisfying."
- Playstation - "It stimulates the mind," says Nubani, whose favourite game is Crash."It's for all ages. It trains your brain."
- Travelling - "I'm big on travelling." She has visited 25 countries so far. "My ambition is to cover the whole world." Her favourite country is the United States. However, the country she most wants to visit - but can't - is her homeland Palestine.
- And ... : "I'm a camera freak. I have to take pictures of everything I see. I have albums and albums of pictures ... many of tables and buildings and no people."
What her students say
"From her personality, I'm sure she has a fun side to her life. I'm guessing she plays playstation ... because she knows all the different games in the market. It somehow makes her more approachable ... you think of her as a buddy."
- Abdul Aziz Al Kitbi, third year bachelor of fine arts in interior design
"I've never seen a more organised person. She is friendly and doesn't make us feel the gap between student and teacher. Other teachers should follow her example because it really helps when the student is close to the teacher. It results in better grades because you don't want to let your teacher down."
- Samer Shaker, third year, bachelor's in interior design
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