ALUMNI

Arzoo Paracha is a third year Bioengineering major on the Biotechnology and Therapeutics Engineering track with a minor in General Business. Careerwise, she hopes to eventually develop life changing therapeutic solutions to common healthcare issues. Her commitment to working with UNICEF started in high school, where she had the opportunity to lead her high school club for multiple years and advocate for UNICEF on Capital Hill. She is specifically drawn to UNICEF’s commitment to improving all aspects of a child’s life, ranging from providing education to bettering sanitation practices. She wants to be a part of giving these children the happiness they deserve. She restarted this chapter to utilize the opportunity to make a difference in another child’s life. On campus Arzoo is involved in the Flexus Community for Women Engineers, creates change in Penny Appeal which has similar goals, organizes for the world’s biggest all women and non binary hackathon Technica, and mentors for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as well as Clark Communities. She is also an active member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Pakistani Student Association, and Muslim Student Organization. Off campus, she enjoys photographing landscapes and candids, cooking new exotic dishes, and traveling to new sites.

Arzoo Paracha is a third year Bioengineering major on the Biotechnology and Therapeutics Engineering track with a minor in General Business. Careerwise, she hopes to eventually develop life changing therapeutic solutions to common healthcare issues. Her commitment to working with UNICEF started in high school, where she had the opportunity to lead her high school club for multiple years and advocate for UNICEF on Capital Hill. She is specifically drawn to UNICEF’s commitment to improving all aspects of a child’s life, ranging from providing education to bettering sanitation practices. She wants to be a part of giving these children the happiness they deserve. She restarted this chapter to utilize the opportunity to make a difference in another child’s life. On campus Arzoo is involved in the Flexus Community for Women Engineers, creates change in Penny Appeal which has similar goals, organizes for the world’s biggest all women and non binary hackathon Technica, and mentors for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as well as Clark Communities. She is also an active member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Pakistani Student Association, and Muslim Student Organization. Off campus, she enjoys photographing landscapes and candids, cooking new exotic dishes, and traveling to new sites.

Laraib Zia is a third year student majoring in Information Science. She hopes to pursue a career in data science, and some of her strongest interests include data visualization and UX/UI design. She was excited to help start this chapter of UNICEF at UMD because she has prior experience working with them. Laraib founded a UNICEF chapter at her high school and was able to organize a number of projects to both fundraise and advocate for important issues. She is eager to continue along that journey and spread UNICEF’s mission. Part of what she loves about UNICEF is the transparency in its efforts and how it strives to improve the lives of vulnerable people in so many ways – whether that is by helping to eradicate the cause of the issue at its root or sending immediate humanitarian aid. Besides UNICEF, Laraib is also a part of the Executive Board of the UMD Pakistani Student Association, where she hopes to help engage students in Pakistani culture as well as expand the organization’s community service and advocacy work. Outside of school, Laraib enjoys making art in her free time. Her passion lies in portrait drawing, painting, and most recently, digital art.