There is no question that Diya Abdo, one of the English department’s latest additions, is enthusiastic about her work.”When I have a good class, I feel euphoric and that feeling can last a week,” said Abdo.

Her students seem to be sharing that same buzz.

“She’s so passionate about the material she is teaching,” said Maxwell Van-Pelt Diller, a sophomore in her World Literature class.

This semester Abdo is teaching College Reading and Writing in addition to World Literature. A Palestinian educated at Yarmouk University in Jordan, she has developed special expertise in post-colonial literature and Arab women’s literature, two subjects that she will teach in the spring..

After graduation, Abdo enrolled at New Jersey ‘s Drew University where she

received her master’s and doctorate degrees and also met her husband. After teaching at Drew she moved back to Jordan and has spent the last five years teaching at Al-Ahliyya Amman University and Arab Open University.

Teaching in Jordan prevented Abdo from socializing with students, who were required to address faculty with professional titles. Consequently, Abdo has quickly figured out what many of us at Guilford already know.

“Guilford is a magical place where everybody wants you to succeed,” Abdo said. “Everybody here is a great teacher.”

In that respect, she will be striving for teaching excellence and she plans to fulfill that goal by “doing what I need to do and doing what I like to do and everything will fall into place.”

Abdo hopes to further the student-teacher relationship outside the classroom walls.

“Social interaction is good for both the professor and the student,” said Abdo, as we were interrupted many times sitting in the Greenleaf by students eager to introduce themselves. She anticipates meeting regularly with Palestinian students so that they can share their common cultural bonds such as language and the current observation of Ramadan.

Associate Professor of English Jim Hood values the international perspective that Abdo can bring to the classroom.

“(Her expertise on) Arab women writers and post-colonial and world literature, as well as her teaching experience in both the United States and Jordan is varied and a good match for Guilford,” said Hood.

I asked Abdo what has been her greatest challenge on the Jordan to United States transition. She replied that even though she primarily thinks in English, she has been thinking and talking in Arabic for five years and recently has found herself somewhat reticent in searching for the right words in academic discussions.

Luckily for us, Abdo is right where she wants to be. A cousin took her to a university class when she was 13, and she knew right then and there that she wanted to be a college professor. By doing what she likes and needed to do, it appears everything has fallen into place.