Carnegie Mellon Doha, Qatar is on a roll! Having kicked off the orientation week, the students here are more than delighted to be a part of the Carnegie Mellon family. Sure, we were quiet at times, a little vociferous at others, but most important of all we feel that we are ready. We feel extremely ambitious. We can see where this campus will be in some fifty odd years or so and we are overwhelmed by the opportunity to make history: getting new clubs started, fixing up the Carnegie Mellon motto in Arabic, setting up new traditions to be passed on as the years go by.

Sure, we don't have many of the luxuries which the students at Pittsburgh have: stadiums, libraries, and a large student body. This has made us understand the value of such facilities. As 46 of us join the ranks of the class of 2008, we understand that about 1300 of us join in our ranks in Pittsburgh. Sure, we may be thousands of miles away, but the experience is new to me and to you: new faces and places, new tastes and smiles, and of course, not to mention a whole new way of achieving academic integrity. Sure, if one were to look at the original plans of CMU Pittsburgh and compare it to what we have here at Doha one would find striking similarities and differences. For instance, the layout would look similar, but we don't have many hills and you don't have much sand. Sure, things will unfold just a bit different over here than they did back in the 1900s, and we hope that it develops a whole load faster.

For now we are holding on to an optimistic tone and hope to keep the lines of communication between both campuses busy. From Doha, Qatar we would like to wish a very fruitful, exciting and valuable adventure to all the students and staff at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. Looking forward to getting in touch with some of you and definitely looking forward to hearing your ideas and insights on what we are going to build together here in Doha.