Outstanding Grad: Haniyeh QahriSaremi, College of Business

QahriSaremi, born and raised in Iran, dedicated 14 years of her life in the banking industry, observing business processing issues, sparking her desire to develop her own technical and analytical skills. She realized what she was enthused about, what she aspired to be.

Yet her will to do so was limited in her home country, especially as a woman. That was when she decided to move to America to pursue her educational and career goals.

Although she had options in other countries, and at other Colorado universities, she chose CSU to pursue her dream. Her deciding factor was the professors teaching the program, professors whom she speaks highly of herself. This criterion prompted her to enroll at CSU in the Graduate Computer Information Systems Program.

As an international student, QahriSaremi sacrificed a lot chasing after her goals, entering the master’s program.

“You’re going to be facing several adversities when you come to a new country,” said QahriSaremi. “The simplest one is that you’re going to face a new environment, new language, new culture.”

With these changes in mind, QahriSaremi knew that she needed to prioritize communicating effectively with professional people and professors, in addition to networking with employers.

As QahriSaremi persevered, she faced a new unexpected challenge. For financial reasons, QahriSaremi was faced with the fact that she would need to work while she studied.

“So, making a balance between the study and doing all the workload of the grad level and working, it was really hard, but it was also the good time for me, because it taught me the time management. It taught me the resilience,” said QahriSaremi, who worked in four different positions at one point. Thankfully, her experiences pursuing her degree at CSU allowed her to navigate these challenges with confidence.

In their own words