The College of Business Administration (CBA), women's section, in Jeddah – under the patronage of Princess Seta Bint Abdullah – held their annual graduation ceremony at the prestigious Hyatt Park hotel for their 150 bachelor and master graduates. Lama Tashkandi, one of the masters students in the MBA program in finance, successfully received her degree at that ceremony. She told Saudi Gazette that it was always her dream to do her masters and PhD while living in the Kingdom and CBA helped her fulfill her dream. Lama is working at the Saudi-French Bank in the risk management department and her masters degree has helped her a lot in pursuing her career. “I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the people who have made it possible, especially Dr. Abdullah Dahlan, the chairman of the board of trustees of CBA, and Professor Husein Al-Alawi, the dean at CBA, for providing such a valuable MBA program,” said Tashkandi. Tashkandi told Saud Gazette that she has a diverse back ground, and that she worked in career development at Effat University. She also worked in event management and now she is working in a bank in the field of risk and finance. She did a lot of volunteer work during the Jeddah floods, and also volunteered at the Jeddah economic forum. “Girls should fight for their rights, in a positive way, for what they want. I feel great as I always dreamt to do my masters and PhD, so this is the first step towards my dream, and now I am planning to do my PhD in financial law, because it isn't considered a good field for women in this country. But I will continue to pursue it, though working and studying will be a little hectic. However, in the end, it will all be worth it,” said Tashkandi. Tashkandi said life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away: “While our grades are important, it is the little exciting moments and tensions from each supposedly insignificant moment in our varsity life that will remain entrenched in our memories. If I look back at my journey in CBA, the passage of time has indeed recorded both times of distress and great joy,” she explained. She also said that living in a society where people sometimes speak about killing time, she suggested to learn how to take time out for serious issues, take time out to express her thoughts and to change perceptions: “We must learn to make time to foster sincere relationships and value people as worthy and unique individuals, and help the poor and needy.” She added: “Our competitive, fast-paced cultural values have helped to blind us to this tendency. I hope that we will continue to make ourselves available each moment and think about how we can use the moments in our lives to make a difference to our community.” Dr. Nadia Bashan, Dean of the Business College, welcomed Princess Seta and other dignitaries on the occasion and thanked the Princess for her continued support and efforts to encourage Saudi women to carry the message of humanitarian contribution in the development of the country. She also thanked The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, for his support for the role of Saudi women in the development of the country and nation. “Today we are proud, satisfied, happy and keeping our heads up high with pride on the quality of education and support, hard work of our faculty, who helped us in fulfilling our mission “Education for mission”, as more than 75 percent of our graduates get jobs before they finish their studies,” said Dr. Nadia. She also said that this is because of the appropriate training for students in many of the leading companies and continued support until graduation. The College of Business Administration plays an active role in educating and motivating their requests on scientific basis, leadership and behavior. Princess Seta stressed on the importance of education and educated youth in the service of the country; she exhorted the students to take their education seriously, so they can take part in the development of the country. She also appreciated the efforts of the Board of Trustees, Council members and staff of the College of Business Administration. The appreciation awards were given out to Olfat Kabbani, member of Board of Directors of the Jeddah Chambers (JCCI), Nashwa Taher, board member of the JCCI and Modawi Al- Hassoun, business women, board member of JCCI for their services and contribution to the economy and supporting social responsibility. “I am so proud that today we are celebrating the Saudi women graduation; it's a dream come true! We proved the ability of Saudi women! I advise the Saudi women and these students who graduate today, as now they are going to face the real market, that they should not be afraid, believe in themselves, enter in the business world with what they've learnt and a good grasp on technology and English,” said Al
