“Women of Ole Miss” is a four-part interview series documenting the voices of women attending the University of Mississippi. Each part focuses on a different student, exploring their unique life experiences and accomplishments and what it means to them to be a woman.
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Canada and Cleveland, Ohio.
Looking at the list of places that Esraa Al Shawakri has lived, it goes without saying that she is no stranger to making a big move. In 2018, Al Shawakri and her family packed up their things once again and settled down in Oxford, Mississippi.
While her husband’s job at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi was the initial reason for the move, she wasted no time in utilizing the opportunities at the University of Mississippi and immersing herself in the campus community.
In addition to being a full-time mother of twins, Al Shawakri is now a graduate student in the department of pharmaceutics and drug delivery, as well as an active member in the graduate student and Muslim communities on campus.
Al Shawakri received a master’s degree from the University of Jordan in 2015, but changes in her career and research interests pushed her to get a second master’s degree.
“I have a master’s degree in clinical pharmacy back home, but for here, my master’s is in pharmaceutics and drug delivery, which is more industry,” Al Shawakri said. “It’s two different fields. So I had to do my masters.”
Al Shawakri’s research focuses on formulation development, which is an area of pharmacy that tracks patentability and life cycles of medications.
“We’re using two techniques, hot-melt extrusion and 3D printing,” Al Shawakri said. “It’s the future of formulation development in our department.”
After completing her master’s degree, Al Shawakri plans to continue her education and start a Ph.D. program. Al Shawakri’s favorite part of being a woman in STEM is that it’s a mix of science, technology and being a mentor. She hopes that she stands out as an example of what women, in Jordan and Oxford, are capable of accomplishing.
“There are women in STEM in Jordan,” Al Shawakri said. “They have a lot of work and research, but they are not as recognized as they are here. I want to be an example for women from Jordan to show them that we are all the same.”
Al Shawakri holds positions in multiple UM student organizations that help make her that example. She is the social media manager for the UM chapter of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a senator for the Graduate Student Council.
The American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences hosts journal clubs and events for pharmacy students on campus. The Graduate Student Council is responsible for making decisions for graduate students on campus and hosts the yearly GSC Research and Creative Achievement Symposium.
“To be honest, students voted for me in my department, and I wasn’t even thinking about this,” Al Shawakri said. “It makes me very happy that people think I’m a good person for the position.”
Al Shawakri is also the current treasurer of the Muslim Student Association.
The Muslim Student Association is not just an organization that hosts events and programs to bring Muslim students together but to bring all students together, Al Shawakri said.
“It’s open for everyone: Muslims, non-Muslims, and all ages,” Al Shawakri said. “We’re inviting everyone to come to see who we are, and we appreciate and respect every religion and everyone in the community.”
In addition to being an example for women in STEM, Al Shawakri wants to use her experience and insight to help all UM students, especially students who are mothers like her, in navigating everyday life. The idea came to Al Shawakri during the pandemic when she had to balance her work and take care of two kids at home. To do this, Al Shawakri is in the process of building her social media presence with hopes of becoming an influencer that people can look to for organization and study tips.
“I was searching through YouTube for study with me videos, and it came to me that no Ole Miss student had done this before, no mother had done this before,” Al Shawakri said. “I want to make it a huge deal to help students to have the best desk organization, the best outfit while you study, as a mother, as a student, as a person who has a lot of tasks in life.”
Although Al Shawakri has different goals for how her research, community leadership and social media presence impact people, one common message is clear in everything she does.
“We can try whatever we want in life,” Al Shawakri said. “We’re open to any opportunity, to any work, to any research. It gives us power — to not be restricted. All due respect to motherhood, but we can do other things and be successful at it.”
