A large crowd of nursing students and University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) partners, staff, faculty, families and friends gathered this week on the grounds of UCQ to celebrate Qatar National Day.
To start the event, UCQ dean and chief executive officer Dr Kim Critchley spoke to the audience, expressing her gratitude to HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for the honour of serving the state through the delivery of “gold-standard nursing education” to the people of Qatar.
Hissa al-Aali, associate director of the College of Nursing Programme, further inspired the many nursing students present with a strong sense of pride in their futures as nursing professionals in this country, and praised the impact their commitment will have on its future.
In a poem, UCQ Master of Nursing student Shaika al-Qahtani expressed her gratitude to HH the Emir and HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser for their vision and leadership, and pledged to use the skills and knowledge she has acquired at UCQ to “make Qatar the best”.
The National Day celebration at UCQ showcased Qatari culture through food, an Arda and a folk show. One of its highlights was 10-year-old Mohamed Khalifa, who brought along his young falcon and inspired national feelings in everyone there with a beautiful recitation celebrating Qatar.