Ep. 24 - Dr. Dany Doueiri - Professor, Arabic Language & Culture

In Episode 24 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast, Matt Markin continues his series by interviewing faculty at CSUSB. Matt's next guest in this series is Dr. Dany Doueiri from the World Languages & Literatures Department! 

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Transcript

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Matt Markin  
Hey, welcome back to the CSUSB Advising Podcast. We're back with another episode. I'm Matt Markin, academic advisor in the office of advising and academic services, and I'm super excited for this episode today I get to interview someone that I've known for many years, and that is Dr. Dany Doueiri, or as many students and staff, me included, call him Dr. Dany. Dr. Dany joined CSUSB in 2001 and served as a coordinator of the Arabic language program until 2016 he has been a member of the executive board for the Center for the Study of Muslim and Arab world since its creation in 2003 he teaches courses in Arabic language and culture and contemporary issues of the Muslim world. He has worked in the educational and non profit sectors for 30 years, and is an educational consultant and frequently invited speaker for national and international institutions in the areas of language, pedagogy, program development, teacher, professional development, interfaith and advocacy and education. Dr. Dany has received multiple awards and recognitions in the fields of teaching, service and interfaith work. He also pursued his college education, where he earned his bachelor's degree from Cal Poly Pomona, masters at UC Davis and his doctorate at UCLA. Dr Danny, it's so good to talk with you today. Welcome.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Thank you so much for having me. Matt. Your office is a very special and dear office to my heart. As you know I love the students, and when I know that they need some advice, I manually walk them to your office, because you and the rest of your stuff are just wonderful, amazing. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, and you are even more amazing. I just know, pre pandemic, I always got to talk with your class and and it's one that you had the class of in the evening time, which usually, sometimes is they're not the most students aren't, don't have the most energy during the time, but when I would go and visit your class, they would be so energetic, paying so much attention, had so many questions. And I think it just, it's a testimony to you as a professor at this institution, and so really great that you're here, that we get to chat today, and kind of connected to that is there's a quote I found that you said, and you said, the CSU is the people's University, which means everyone has access to a once in a lifetime experience. So for you, how and why is the Cal State University System "The People's University?"

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure, I remember seeing this, and I am a product of the CSU. Like you said, I got my bachelor's degree from Cal Poly Pomona, a sister school to Cal State San Bernardino. Even my brother graduated from San Diego, state, which is also one of our sister schools. And I know how challenging sometimes it is for people to come and attend and come to college, I was an international student. So was my brother, and sometimes it's hard to get into some schools that are a little bit more competitive if you've especially if you come from an area where you had war or not enough education. So it is not only a people's university for those who are in the United States or in the community, but it is also for people who are coming from overseas, who wanted to go through a mainstream channel instead of sometimes a little bit more. How would you say privileged schools or schools that are more selective and very competitive to get in. So it is, it is the workforce. We are. We, as in the constant university system, produce the labor force, the teachers, the engineers, the, you know, the people in law enforcement and healthcare workers. We are not a UC, we are not a research organization, although I am also graduate of two UCS, so it's not to match them, but I really believe, from experience in both system, the CSU and the UCs, that generally speaking, students get more attention in a Cal State University than any UC not because the teachers are different. It's just because our mandate is different. We have to teach more. We have more experience of teaching, and we have to do less dissemination of information, means less research, so we can focus on what some of us like to do most, which is teaching and being there for the students.

Matt Markin  
And you talked a little bit about your educational background. Can you talk about your path and your journey into higher ed and into teaching and being at Cal State, San Bernardino?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Absolutely. First of all, I never knew that I was going to be a professor. Some people exactly knew when they entered college where they were going to be. In my case, that was not the pathway. I. I come from family. I come originally from Lebanon. Although I was born in the Congo, which is in Africa, my parents were not diamond traders, because in the Congo there's the War of the diamonds. But they were educators. They were part of the United Nation, or the UNESCO, teaching in a very small village. So mom and my mom and dad were both educators, and my uncle, back in the 40s or 50s, got his doctorate degree. So when I say this, just to say that going to college was not an option for me, it was around me. You know, all my uncles and all had their their degrees, but they got their degree mad because they were privileged their communities, they were actually very poor, and my parents were orphan. My mom's father was was killed when she was young. He was killing people's salary. So they knew that the only pathway out of hardship was just to get education, because we didn't have millions of dollars that could give us a different pathways. So I followed that legacy of education, and also higher education for my parents, and I lived in war, and I always share this to my with my students. Because sometimes students say, here in Cal State, but you know what? I have it hard that some people you know are working. I said, Yeah, I know. I know how hard it is, and I do sympathize. We have a lot of also responsibilities here our community, for people to take care of their families. However, other people, also who made it to the highest level of education also may have come from much more challenging times. I lived the Civil War. I've lost a lot of people in my own family through the war. I was personally kidnapped, you know, begged for my life. All of these are traumas. All of there are reasons for people to drop out of school, but it was never a reason to drop out. We studied under candles with no electricity, sometimes shortage of food, but that was never reason to say we're not going to go for education. And then I came to Cal State, here to Cal Poly Pomona, then UC Davis and UCLA, and I worked, like all of our students. I lived in a van when I didn't have an apartment. I worked as a dishwasher. Worked at the farm,. Cal Poly pop, because I studied agriculture, so I worked at the Cal Poly farm, and I just worked, like everybody. I even in my master's and my doctorate degree, I used to drive trucks in the summer to get some money so that I can pay for my tuition. So that was my pathway towards education. I thought I was going to be in public policy, and I did work in public policy and consulting, but I think teaching was one of the more rewarding and jobs that I got. And by mistake, in 2001 I got a call to say if they wanted to teach at Cal State that hired a teacher who never showed up. So I came. I had an easy interview because they were desperate to get somebody. But today, Cal State is my home. It's my profession. The students and everybody you and your own staff are my family. I love it. I won't trade it for anything else. 

Matt Markin  
I know when we first met, it's when I used to work in the admissions office, and during that time, one of the programs that I was coordinating was the high school university program. And I know with one of the Arabic programs that you were doing, that also involved getting some high school students in that and it was like a summer program. And there was one of the things I always looked forward to, is like, during the summer, I was like, that's when Dr Dan is going to come by, and I actually get to chat with him and get the process these applications. And it seemed like the students just they gained so much from that. And I guess that leads into that Arabic program. How did that come about because that's something that you started?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure. So the decision to teach Arabic came about before I joined Cal State, and it happened actually before 911 so there was a push to teach Arabic as an important language, language of culture, and also be proactive instead of reactive. So when I came right after the tragic event of 911 there were classes enrolled, but no staffing. That's when I said the teacher never showed up. So I came, and I started doing this. The program grew from a very small program, and then we grew it all the way to 2016 to be the largest in western United States. Actually, we had more students, more faculty, and more funding than historic programs that did have Arabic some things like UCLA or UC Berkeley, we had more money and more students and more sections, actually, than many other very prestigious and very well funded, both public and private universities. Not anymore, there has been a little bit dip in the program, which is very sad, but hopefully we can regrow it. Back again, you know, one of these days, but it's a very enriching program, and I encourage anybody to learn any language, not only Arabic, and also to think about study abroad programs and intensive programs, whether it's an intensive coding program, Nursing Program, or whatever it is, once you're focused for eight hours. We used to do it for eight weeks, for 16 hours a day, from eight o'clock at the morgue to 10 o'clock. Students learn so much more than they would do it if they were to stretch their education. So to all the students, please consider doing very intensive and focused programs.

Matt Markin  
And what classes are you teaching this semester?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure. So I have some classes that I regularly teach every single semester, including the one that I always invite you to. And you're always invited as long as I'm alive. This is your class to come. So we have a class on the culture of the known as the world of Islam. So the culture of the Muslim countries, both Muslims overseas, but also the Muslim experience and its interaction with the rest of the community here in the United States. So this is one of the classes. I also teach some classes in Arabic language and also Arabic culture, because Islam is something and Arabic studies and cultures are something different, because most Muslims are not Arabs. Anyways, Arabs are only 18% of the Muslims. So this semester, I'm teaching a class on Arabic literature in translation, which means students do not need to know any background in Arabic. They can just come and then read in English things that have been translated from Arabic and that and the world of Islam, and sometimes I do teach actually Arabic language classes.

Matt Markin  
Is there a particular class that's been like your favorite to teach?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
You know, my students are my favorite. So whether I'm in a large class or a small class, I love them both. I mean, I love both classes and whether they're online or in person, I also like them. I prefer, usually face to face or virtual synchronous classes so I can see the students, you know, behind cameras or or in class. You know, I there's, there's a unique there's a unique experience to each one of the class. If it's a small class, you get the chance to know each students and go into depth and then allow far more discussion. Opportunities and presentations are like students to present and show what they learn. But sometimes, when you have a class of 250 students, you cannot make 250 presentations. So there are two different strategies, but I think I like both. I like the big crowd because we learn from each other, and I like the small one, because you can go in depth and then get to know each one of the students. Very, very How should you say much more in depth?

Matt Markin  
Yeah, and you were mentioning the different types of teaching. So like the asynchronous, synchronous, online, in person, smaller classes, larger classes. And these last few years have been a whirlwind of change and and you know, as a professor and talking with your students and teaching your students what have been some of the challenges and even maybe some of the successes that you've witnessed from your students during these last few years?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure, you know, students are resilient and very inspiring, yet we're learning we're all adjusting, whether we are staff or teachers, and of course, students are also adjusting very well. They're adjusting, I don't want to see if it's very well, the pandemic is only well now, by now two years, and there's going to have to be a learning process to maximize education. I think we all agreed the in the world of education that the pandemic had had been a little challenge in terms of how much students truly require. So one of the biggest challenges I find with the students is to say, You know what the class is online, even if it's synchronous. That means that I can join the class from home or no no problem from home or from work. But while working, while shopping, while getting my hair done, my nails done, my tattoo done. And these are not jokes. These are real experiences. Because sometimes I ask students, like, Where were you or, please turn on the camera, and then where you find the students is sometimes it's at least authentic. You know, it's like what? And students sometimes find it at the comfort of their beds. So you have students who do not shy away from turning their cameras, even with a pillow and a blanket over them. So I think changing that, I don't want to say that mentality, but changing that perception. Questions about the importance of being engaged and taking education very seriously. I don't think students would take me seriously if I was in bed, teaching, teaching from bed. I do understand that the pandemic has imposed certain conditions on some of us, parents who have children in the same house, smaller dwellings, where people do not have their own privacies, lots of noise that's going in the background. These are things we're going to have to work out with, and I'm sure the future will hold so much more opportunities for us. But students have had hard time also our own students. We are commuter campus. Students do not always feel that this the campus is theirs. They're not as involved with clubs. We are not as certain private schools that have 98% of its students resigning on campus where they're there all the time, even if they're behind the camera. So students have two lives. They have their work life, family life, and the university. I think that has been a challenge to connect with the students and tell them, Look, we are here for you. We care for you. We are going to do our parts. We're going to work our 800 hours per week, but please also do your part and also value your education. This is not a time to work 60 or 80 hours at Amazon, our local employer, and say, I'm going to take full time load. I think the university needs to also be aware that students should not be allowed to over enroll when they are also overworked. There is a compromise in the level of education, and I don't know how to solve it.

Matt Markin  
It's going to be an ongoing process, and, you know, to try to figure that out, and hopefully eventually we do find that that perfect answer to it. But I know we've also seen a lot of students adapt really well to like the the online process with their classes, and actually have excelled a lot with it, and actually preferred it to be online, not every student, but you know, there are those that have enjoyed to be able to, you know, do things from the comfort of their home, or, like you said, on the go wherever, and still be able to kind of get that learning in there whenever they can.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Absolutely and Matt, let me tell you just One example of one student. Although there's these examples are very numerous, one of the students who was always, always participating in class, once was participating, and I asked her to turn on the camera. She said, Professor, are you sure you want me to turn on the camera? I said, yes, if it's not a bother for you. She turned it in. And, you know, our campuses in pond, we are in the main campus, so we're in San Bernardino, you know, and we have a satellite campus in Palm Desert. So we have some students who are in the Coachella Valley who live there. And when she took their camera, she was picking bell pepper in a big farm. She was so she was big. And this is a girl, or this is a student who never missed a class, always participated, and she was inside the field, picking bell pepper, turning on the cameras, on her cell phone, because she couldn't carry her whole computer, making sure that she never missed classes. And I had to, you know, we got the chance to talk to her a little bit more. And then she said this. I asked her to know, send me some pictures. She's up every day at four o'clock in the morning, starts picking at 430 finishes at two o'clock in the afternoon, the fields, goes back, feeds her brother, who's handicapped, then goes back, and then works as a teacher, or like a teacher's aide, at the YMCA, for three hours. And she does not have a mom, nor that she's orphan, and she's a DACA student, and I checked her GPA because we wanted to encourage her to become a teacher, and she's now starting her teaching credential. When I see students just like this, taking a full load, working more than a full time taking care of a person with a disability and no family support because mom and dad are both dead, it is an inspiration that people can do it. People can really care. And when she shared her story in 530 people, some people who were not behind cameras or not participating as much, got inspired, felt bad that you know, maybe they're doing something a little bit different. So we do have this type of students who hopefully will be featured as as an example for the rest of our students that look, don't cry that you have it hard. Other people have it harder than you. And here's an example, and they excel.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, and they this is a student that found a way, why have this technology with my phone where I'm gonna multitask and be as focused on the Canon class, but still be up this early, doing, you know, working and, like you said, then also having to take care of family members, having no one really to take care of them, and they just have, like, the world on their shoulders. I'm so. Okay, you know, we were talking about like perceptions. And also, I think students sometimes have certain perceptions, or maybe some misconceptions of faculty, where maybe they, you know, sometimes they get nervous to talk to faculty. Don't know how to approach a faculty member, their professors. How have you dealt dealt with things like that.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure students sometimes think that faculty have it easy. They don't work. They travel to Europe every or to Hawaii. You know, every summer, they drive the best cars, and they don't care. They don't answer emails. They don't respond to phone calls. And while all of these are possibilities, there are some teachers, I think those are the exceptions of four examples of what teachers are, because I really believe, just like our staff and our administrators, most of our teachers really care about their students. Like you said at the beginning, we are all human beings. We listen to our students, we share their pains, we understand their struggles, and we are here to support them. I had taken it as a commitment, and I've done it every single semester since the pandemic, to meet each one of my students, even in a 250 student class, which each one of them for 15 to 20 minutes. Somewhat, sometimes these meetings end up in half hour, and most of the time they're going to be following up with like two meetings or three meetings per students per semester. For all of the classes, meeting 300 students in one term is a lot of time. But I am not the only person. I know. Many other teachers really care and are interested in knowing what students have got to give and what is their story. These meanings while we do discuss some of the academics, like, are they struggling in the class? Is there anything that you know we need to know. These meetings are an informal way to get the chance to know the students. What is your story? Tell me about your families, your hobbies, you know your dreams after you finish college, ambitions, and, of course, if you have any challenges. So I hope our students will always remember that just like your advising office really cares and is there to support them, just like other programs on our campus, the European program, we also teachers are human being. We are here to listen, and we will try our best to address all of the needs, although sometimes unintentionally. We may miss a phone call or an email, especially if somebody sends you a phone call and leave you a message from their cell phone when it was not you know, you cannot hear the message very well, so you cannot call them back. So and if we did our shortcomings, and I'm sure we have a lot of shortcomings, I always ask our students, just forgive us, be kind to us, like you want us, like you want us to be kind towards you.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, but it's also like you're saying where you know you have, like, let's say just one class of 250 and then you may have these other classes that you're teaching, and maybe they might be smaller sizes, but all together, that's, you know, a few 100 students that you have for that semester and then trying to meet with them as well. It also shows that you're looking at them as individuals and not just as a number or as a group. But yeah, there might be that phone call or that email that gets missed, but I think it's a good reminder where, you know, for students too, or, you know, hey, if you don't get a response back, just follow up, you know, send that second email or that phone call, because if they missed it, hey, then they'll see the next one, and then be able to try to try to answer, answer the questions. And I think just even from this, everything we've talked about so far, you know, and you're very humble, you know, you talk about like you're not the only one that other professors, you know, are going to be reaching out to their students too, which is great, but also, you know, I have to mention that you also received the Golden Apple Award, and also for teaching excellence, and also the CSU faculty of the Year award. How, how was it? How did you feel when you received those recognitions?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
You know, you're you're humbled. It is very it is a big honor and testimonials of of the committees that that go through all the files and make very difficult selections, because I am sure a lot of the people who get nominated are also as as dedicated and qualified. I'm always very honored from the students who do recognize, you know the hard work of their teachers. Sometimes you know students that you know we nominated you again. You can no longer be nominated because you can only get an award once, which is, I think, a great policy so that other. People who are also amazing, who are amazing faculty, not also not talking about myself, but also deserves to be recognized. It's always, how should we say it's always, it's always good to hear what students have got to say about you and how they perceive you, and students really care. You can see it sometimes that, you know, they joke or they talk about things on writing sites, you know, like create my professors or so on. But as students also really care about about their teachers. You know, they invite them to weddings. They invite them for personal events that they have graduation. Sometimes I remember, in the pandemic, once I was in class, in the class, like, you know, behind camera, and suddenly I heard the door ring, and I didn't answer because it was independent in the class, not because of the day, but I was in class, so the door kept ringing ring and ring. So it was like little bit too much. I said, You know what? Let me just go open it so. So when I went and opened the door, there were about, I think, 75 or 100 cars outside my house, and there were the students actually, who staged this whole thing to come and then parade around the house, and they were honking all over. It was a big embarrassment, and those who were behind cameras knew exactly what was happening. They had staged it at the time of class because they knew I was at home. So students, you know, they came and they made a whole party out of it. Students do recognize the hard work of their teachers and their staff, and we need to see that aspect. And they're humans, just like we are and and they're the reason why we are here. We're really there for them. If it's not, it's teaching in terms of monetary compensation or time commitment is not is not worth it if it was not for the service that we give them. You know, you can go do so many things outside and make so much more money. So it's not for the money. It's the love, the passion, the art and the mission of being here all together in an educational setting.

Matt Markin  
Now I should, I could have seen that where you have all the students in their cars just driving up and honking, ringing the doorbell. Embarrassing, sure, but also just really, really nice to have the show the respect that your students have for you, which I think is truly amazing.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Yeah, it was funny. I mean, all the neighbors came out of there, like, what's happening here? Because I live in a cul de sac, I'm at the loss of a cul de sac, so it's very quiet street, and suddenly there was, like, hunks, balloons, decorations, like, what's that? So students are amazing, just like we love them. I know they love and they appreciate those who listen to them.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, absolutely. And outside of Cal State San Bernardino, what do you do for hobbies?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Yeah, of course. Outside Cal State San Bernardino, we are all over work. So the very little time that that I get, I like music. I like to play piano and spend time with the family. I also like gardening, while outdoors and hiking are things that I really like. There's just a small, you know, there's something very, I'd say rewarding when you plant something and you see it grow. So I'd say some music and then some community service is something that that really appeals to me, and that's what I do if there is any time off. But these days, like I think, I'm sure your family tells you the same thing, and I've heard it of many teachers that our family look at us and they say, where are you? How come you're not with us? And then it's not because we don't want to be with our family. It's just because we are so overwhelmed with work that sometimes even that little time then when you are with your family, you're drawn into thinking about the next email you have to answer, or the next homework or assignment you have to bring.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, and what I do like because you're mentioning playing the piano. And I know sometimes, depending on what class that you're in. Sometimes, I know there's that one lecture class on the College of Education building that has that piano keyboard in there, and so if any students listening, just ask Dr. Dany, if Dr. Dany can play something and he will. He'll take time out of the class, and we'll play something quick.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
And you know, this classroom didn't have a piano. I learned that the music department had some old keyboards in the boneyard, so I went and then got it, and then carried it all the way to CE 105. Of course, I took permission, and this semester, my class is UH 106 and I was so happy when there was a piano I went to play for the students. And you know what? Somebody locked the. Piano. It has a lot like a big lock. So I am going to have to go back to maybe the music department. See, could you please unlock it? Just give me a copy of the keys, because, you know, it's we're not just having fun singing, but we're also introducing certain cultures with certain songs that that relate to the to the topic of the class, but this is how you could also engage students. We we want to take the we want to take the learning experience actually out of the classroom. That's why, in you know, some of our classes, actually all of them were either walking to the observatory, going on a field trip, walking to many areas on our campus, which we have a very beautiful campus to conduct classes outside. So I hope many students, I hope many teachers, also think about taking their students out of the routine of their daily classrooms and just go see explore the beautiful part of the campus. As a matter of fact, from our experience, from the summer intensive program. Students take most of their pictures when they're outdoors. So if there's a field trip, we used to take our students camping. We used to take them to the beach. And you know, they were taken on campus, maybe 510, pictures a day when they're an intensive program. When we take them outside the campus, they're taking two, 300 pictures. So, so let's, let's give that opportunity for the students, and let's think out of the box of homemade to make certain experiences really meaningful to them.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, perfectly said. And kind of going back with, you know, the like the piano thing, they also have the piano in Jack, Jack Brown in the lecture hall. And I remember one of the orientations that we have when we were on campus for fresh first year student orientation. It, you know, it's a lot information that we're trying to throw these students during orientation, and I could see it on their faces. And so my colleague and I, we just took a break and said, you know, because we saw someone, one of the students on the piano before we started. So we asked them if they wouldn't mind just as we took a break to just play some music, and then you had another student that jumped in and started singing, and it was just a very fun, unique time for that. And it kind of just got the students out of their routine. But I like the whole idea of going outside, whether it's just to get fresh air, walk around, take pictures. I mean, it's such a beautiful campus, and it's something where, you know, yeah, it gets units out of the routine of, like, I'm just going to set and just listen to be very passive, and it gets them to become a little bit more active.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Sure, you know, most of our students don't know we have a museum very well worth seeing a lot of art exhibit there. And most students don't know that you have a beautiful observatory just the height of the Observatory, which takes about eight minutes. The reason I say this because when I take my students who want to make sure that people who may not be as fit or may have special needs are catered to, it's very easy. You only call you have to call the police department get a permission from the Dean. Doesn't just open me the gates, and students could drive all the way but for me, just the fact of walking up is much better than just driving all the way up, because it's just a totally different thing. Sometimes you see snakes, you see small squares, you see other cup of olive trees. And students never knew the beauty of our campus. Let them go to the observatory, and then look. Once you're there, there's like a little balcony, and then you can look at it. Look at it. We really have a beautiful campus and and it's not crowded. I mean, yeah, and I don't want to compare, but let's say, I mean, like, I think Cal Poly Pomona is beautiful. But if you go to places like, I don't know, maybe I visited Cal State LA or Cal State, Cal State Long Beach, it's a very crowded campus. The parking are crowded. There's no mountain you walk out and you're straight in the city. Here we have a whole mountain background with no real estate development on our mountains. I mean, this morning you wake up, and then you have up to about 700 feet and you have all the snow behind you. What a beautiful background.

Matt Markin  
Oh yeah, oh, yeah. And I that was something when I drive the campus, even this morning, you know, it was a little bit of a sprinkle. But then just looking, when I got, get off the freeway and just get to see the mountains and see this little bit of snow on there, and then, yeah, just like you're saying, just going back there, I used to hike back there, and I need to start going, doing it again, exercise a little bit more, but it's, it's so beautiful, just to get off of work and go and hike in the back, and then, like you're saying, going up to the observatory, and it is such a beautiful view from there. And then just to see the campus, and like, this is where I work, and even for students, like this is where I go to school. A beautiful, beautiful site. And in the time remaining, do you have any a last message that that you want to say to students?

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
You know, look for anybody who would listen up to here for this conversation. Just know that you have an advising office that truly cares about you. I've heard what how much you put. Time, the passion that you have, the care that you want, and then the genuine love to make our students succeed. So please for all of you, just know that you have a caring staff, and you have caring teachers, and if you need any help, we do understand that you may go through special circumstances, but just come talk to us. Some of us are never going to listen to you, and some of us are going to just embrace you and say, how could we support you? We are all human being, and this is the reality of life. We always find people are approachable and people are not. So come to us. Work on the academic advising office, and come to some of your teachers, we're here for you. And you know what? Don't give yourself an excuse if you ever for all the students, if you ever get the chance to travel in some not as privileged areas in the United States or overseas. You know how good we have it here in the United States, and I don't mean to be that we are not privileged people, but all what I'm saying is we do have a lot of opportunities for support and failing or dropping out, unless they are extenuating circumstances. Is almost an excuse. You can make it. We can all make it. You can graduate on time and be again a positive contributing factor to our society and our community.

Matt Markin  
And to end the episode, I'm going to end. I started with a quote from me. I'm going to end with a quote from you. And so this is something that you said, with everything going on in the world, you once said, I always insist that this nation still has goodness, and goodness will overtake bad decisions, and we all have common agendas for 90% of the things we care about, like clean air, affordable education and good health. Let's focus on these things so Dr. Dany, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.

Dr. Dany Doueiri  
Thank you, Matt, thank you for having me. It's a big honor and keep doing what you're doing, plenty of passion and lot of professionalism. Thank you so much.

Matt Markin  
Oh, thank you. And that ends this episode. And if you don't already subscribe to the CSUSB advising podcast on all your favorite podcast platforms, Apple, Spotify, Google, even Amazon, music and until next time, take care and go yotes.