Rashwan Almshaal

My name is Rashwan. I am from Basra City, located in the southern part of Iraq. I have many goals in my life, but the most important goal is to be a professional engineer in order to participate in rebuilding my country after a couple of wars destroyed our country’s infrastructure.

In order to proceed with achieving this goal, I had to have a good level of English communication skills. Upon getting an acceptance letter from the ELP, my journey started at this moment. During my study at the ELP, I learned significant lessons that helped me a lot during further stages in my life. For example, I learned how to differentiate between general and academic English, how to be confident when I give presentations, and how to write a standard academic essay. Also, the GRE exam was introduced to me during my time at the ELP.

After I finished three months of an extensive GRE course, I was proud of the score that I received on my first attempt. I was able to start my graduate program with this score. After I graduated from VCU with a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, I returned to my country and joined ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, which is a professional organization working in Iraq.

Because of the English level that I had, I was able to deliver my thoughts and presentations smoothly to my foreign colleagues. I got promoted quickly and now there are 19 employees who are working for me and I don’t think I will stop here.

We can achieve our goals, and our dreams will come true if we have the tools that we need to succeed. In a modern and open world, the most important tool is the English communication and I am pleased to have had this tool improved and matured by the ELP.