More than 1,500 high school girls from 40 schools in Jeddah flocked to Dar Al-Hekma University on Wednesday and Thursday to attend a two-day orientation program. Dubbed the University Fair, the event was part of Dar Al-Hekma's admission plan for the academic year 2016-17. The university's admission and enrollment department had invited private, government and international high schools in the region to attend. "In four years from now your name will be in this presentation stating your accomplishment as one of Dar Al-Hekma University's alumnae when you join the university," said Dr. Suhair Hassan Al-Qurashi, Dar Al-Hekma president. "Dar Al-Hekma University is known for its programs and extra-curricular activities that are rich and diverse and aim to develop and educate students in order to graduate them as accomplished women, leaders and entrepreneurs. In this sense, the university seeks to raise the standards of the services and opportunities provided to students, not only to compete with other universities in Saudi Arabia and the region, but also with prestigious universities around the world. This goal is not difficult to achieve because Dar Al-Hekma is a pioneer in encouraging students to participate in competitions both locally and internationally," said Dr. Sanaa Askool, dean of students. The students who attended the fair explored various opportunities available to them once they decide to pursue their higher education in Dar Al-Hekma. During the orientation program, students were informed about different aspects of Dar Al-Hekma life such as academics, extracurricular activities and numerous opportunities waiting for them to grasp as soon as they graduate. The students were familiarized with the steps required to apply for university and the staff answered students' questions. The students were also taken on a tour around the campus. The annual Dar Al-Hekma event aims to simplify, as much as possible, this stage in high-school students' lives through providing them with various options available to them at the academic level. "The admission and enrollment department connects with the academic advisers in various schools annually to introduce their students to Dar Al-Hekma University and its diverse majors and distinguished services that support students to identify their academic inclinations," said Hawazen Baker, director of admissions and enrollment. "With the efforts of the staff of the admission and enrollment department we organized this event for the 12th year in a row. We were very delighted to host such a large number of students and it was heartwarming to see their enthusiasm about what was presented to them. We want to give them a helping hand to realize the opportunities that can enable them to determine future success." Dar Al-Hekma created a wall to give the visiting students a chance to post what they want in their dream university. "At Dar Al-Hekma University, we believe that continuous change is needed to maintain the high standards. To make changes we must first understand our students. Therefore, we launched a campaign to get feedback from current and potential students on what their dream university comprises of. On social media the campaign is called #MyDreamUniversityDAH," said Soukaina Hamidaddin, director of marketing at Dar Al-Hekma.
