Georgetown Students Make Summer Learning Fun for Children of QF Faculty and Staff

With classes in diplomacy, creative writing, photography and more, a virtual summer camp run by Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) student volunteers called Hoyacation, offered a variety of enrichment opportunities for the children of faculty and staff facing a long and isolated summer at home. 

Over 40 participants ages 6 to 16 have enrolled in the 12 different workshops that are being held over six weeks in June and July. The program, which combines the word Hoya, meaning a Georgetown student, and vacation, gave participants the option of mixing and matching a combination of interactive live courses for a tailor-made virtual summer camp experience.

Program organizer Afsha Kohli, the associate director for student development at Qatar Foundation partner institution GU-Q, said: “This program has been such a surprise hit, and our eight GU-Q student volunteers and many young participants have all gained so much from the experience. This program is just one of the many ways our community has come together to uphold our education and service mission during this crisis.” 

In International Politics major Khushboo Shah’s (GU-Q’22) creative writing course, aspiring writers are inspired by idea prompts, finding ways to connect by sharing their work digitally. “It’s important for each individual to develop their creative voice,” she said, because young people “can use writing as a way to understand the world around them better.”

Managing three courses aimed at older students, Model United Nations, Event Planning, and Graphic Design, Fiza Shahzad (GU-Q’21) said she took on the teaching challenge because “I am a big believer of Georgetown values, particularly People for Others.” The International History major encourages creativity and interaction to be engaging and to create a real classroom experience.

Iman Ismail (GU-Q’22) was already interning virtually with the U.S. Department of State’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with their EcoLearn program since last year, where she taught local classes on environmental awareness and sustainability to kids aged 4 to 15. Now she’s finding new ways to share what she’s learned. “The Hoyacation program gave me the chance to continue teaching throughout the summer, and with my internship advisors permission I jumped on this opportunity.”

For participating high school student Aya, the crisis meant an end to summer plans.

“I was worried, because this is the last summer before I graduate next year, and I really wanted to spend this time brushing up my skills and working on my college applications. I love that I can now add introduction to Persian, graphic design, and event planning to my experiences. This summer wasn’t a loss after all.”

The GU-Q Pandemic Panels including a full list of the participating scholars are available for viewing on www.qatar.georgetown.edu/pandemicpanels .