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If you have not met Schar School of Policy and Government senior Zayd Hamid, odds are you will run into him on campus sometime soon.
He thrives in a university atmosphere, serving as a member of the multiple advisory groups to Gregory Washington, George Mason University’s president, and as a Patriot Leader, a Mason Chooses Kindness ambassador, a member of student government, and an employee of Mason Recreation.
What have these multitude of experiences taught him?
“I think it’s really important to have education leaders who are finding dynamic brilliance and policy and form solutions to create the next generation of leaders,” he said.
Hamid plans to be a part of that next generation of education leaders.
A public administration major, he has taken advantage of the Schar School’s proximity to the nation’s capital, where policy happens, to help him pursue a career in higher education.
“If I wanted a future in politics, I needed to be where the future of politics is,” Hamid said.
In addition to serving as a campaign intern for former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni’s run for the 10th Congressional district, Hamid enrolled in Qarni’s class, Politics of American Education, an obvious choice for him.
“I really couldn't ask for a better mentor in that field,” Hamid said.
Hamid’s experience with Mason Student Government has only accentuated his love of higher education policy. Currently serving as an adviser to the student body president, he has held various positions in the organization. As secretary of the Department of University Academics last year, Hamid promoted the academic interests of the student body to university administrators and stakeholders, organized town halls, and helped plan Mason Lobbies, an annual event in which Mason Student Government brings students to Richmond to lobby state legislators for legislative issues that impact Mason and its students. This year, Hamid once again leads the charge in organizing Mason Lobbies with the help of one of his professors, David Rehr.
Hamid is enrolled in the Schar School’s Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s (BAM) program to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree with an emphasis in education policy. After completing his degree, his career goal, no surprise, resides in higher education.
“My goal is actually to be a university president,” he said. “Not necessarily here, but at any public institution, I think, would be incredible.”