Page 13 - ADU Voice Volume 4 Issue 1

Abu Dhabi University FALL 2024 • • • 13

Looking back at the way we were brought up in
Lebanon: I was born in a small village in the mountains

PROFESSOR of Lebanon with only about 3000 people, so we all
know each other. I remember when I was a child, if
people are getting married, they announce it to the
GHASSAN whole village. If somebody died, the whole village
knows. Life was simple, or simpler, at least.

NOSTALGIA Now I don't know whether I would say I feel sorry for
this generation Z or the current generation. Maybe they
have their own joy by doing something else, but our joy
Q&A was in creating our own games and our own toys. We
didn't have money to to go and buy expensive toys and
By Rabiya Shaukat expensive games and the rest, but we really enjoyed it.
It was very, very nice. I still have very, very fond
memories of my childhood, how easy it was in a living
family, and when you have a large family who are eight
With the theme of Nostalgia in mind, The ADU in the house. So Imagine a mother managing to feed
Voice team had the honour of sitting down with Dr eight people, and now this generation has a child was
or
Professor Ghassan Aouad, Abu Dhabi two, and they are just complaining. So it wasn't a
University’s esteemed Chancellor, to discover complaining type of culture.
more about his cherished memories and wisdom
on the topic. Our mothers worked so hard, day and night, and they wanted what's good for their kids. So

those nostalgic moments will stay with you forever.

Every time I remember what we did, we went to school, what games we played, and playing
from Getty Images
in the prairies was just one fantastic memory for all of us. And now everybody is glued to
their computers and iPhones. They hardly talk other, even within the same family. Things
ever
have changed.
The interview goes as

follows:
Rabiya: Thank you for your time, Professor
Ghassan. We have noticed from your prominent Rabiya: I agree with you, Professor Ghassan. It’s clear that your childhood holds a very
position as a LinkedIn thought leader that you special place in your heart. If you could go back in time and relive one specific memory from
enjoy reminiscing about the past. So, I was this period, which would you choose?

wondering if you had a specific memory that
makes you feel nostalgic? Professor Ghassan: There's always a combination of memories that come to mind, but it
would have to be some moment mainly related to my childhood in the village and and seeing
My mother was always making the
our parents work hard. I mean, my mother used to like make bread for a large family, so she
Professor Ghassan: “Of course, we have so
many nostalgic moments in our life when we think had to get up at maybe four o'clock in the morning, especially in the summer, because it can
of the past, and it’s so important to reminisce get a bit hotter, and she spent two, three hours just making bread to keep it in the fridge,
▶
because if you don't think of the past, you cannot because it was cheaper than buying it from the bakery, and those memories will always stay
enjoy the present and plan for the future with you, I think.

Dr Ghassan Aouad, Chancellor of ADU