Maiwand Kakar: IEI in Turkey

Maiwand Kakar enrolled in the Intensive English Institute at the University of Maine for the 2021–22 academic year as an online student based in Turkey. He was recommended for participation by his mentor and virtual language tutor Peter Collins from Blue Hill, Maine. Peter, who had completed the TESOL Certificate at UMaine IEI in 2016, recommended Kakar as a bright and motivated student who needed to improve his English to qualify for graduate school admission.

Kakar is a very dedicated student who didn’t allow distance and technology to impede his learning. He attended regularly, participated in class virtually and greatly improved his English proficiency. In April 2022, he successfully passed the Duolingo English test and was offered admission in the master’s program in construction engineering and management at Concordia University in Canada.

“Maiwand’s story is one of the crises many of us are watching unfold in Ukraine, but also of dedication and rising above that crisis in ways that are amazing, thoughtful and thought provoking,” said Cheryl Robertson, one of Kakar’s IEI teachers. “It is a pleasure to know Maiwand, and I’m reminded that his genuine gratitude, even in the face of being a refugee for most of his young life, shows that human resilience can overcome even the most difficult of times.”

Read Kakar’s full story on the Intensive English Institute website.