This past summer alumni, Noor Abdelfattah, class of 2015, achieved an awesome accomplishment. She received an invitation to meet President Barack Obama on July 21, 2016.

It all started when Ms. Abdelfattah wrote a letter to the President about her family’s Palestinian history and background.

In her letter, she wrote, “I think what inspired me to write the letter was my family, specifically my parents. They have sacrificed so much for my siblings and I and encountered so many struggles throughout their lives that I thought I should write about it. I have also recently found writing to be a way I can express my authentic self.”

Her well thought out and well written letter made her one out of 15 chosen to attend a luncheon and have a one on one meeting with President Obama. The event that Noor attended was called Eid Al-Fitr.

Eid Al-Fitr is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan. President Barack Obama was the first official President of the United States to host an Eid Al-Fitr party. Abdelfattah was one of the few people to have an up close and personal meeting with the president.

Ms. Abdelfattah says, “I was in a state of awe. Right when I was introduced to the President by one of his guards as “Noor Abdelfattah,”President Obama said, “Noor, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”Right after he said that, I began talking to him but I have no recollection of what I said. Honestly, until today, I still cannot believe I met the 44th President of the United States.”

Ms. Abdelfattah’s time at Regina taught her leadership and self confidence which she used at her time at the White House.

She said, “I honestly believe that because of Regina, I was able to speak to these people with confidence without feeling too intimidated (because it was a little intimidating, no lie.)”

Ms Abdelfattah is definitely proud to have been a Regina Panther and knows that she has made her school proud. She said, ” I hope with this achievement of mine, I made Regina Dominican proud (also I was wearing my class ring on my right hand when I shook hands with the President).”

While at the White House, Ms. Abdelfattah got to meet a lot of famous people who were there for the same reason as she was.  She met military veterans, famous Olympians, a famous journalist, and others.

Today Noor Abdelfattah attends Loyola University, where she will graduate in 2019. She is studying Spanish and Psychology.