Alumni Profile | Zaid Abougamer

“I thought leadership meant management, but really, it means understanding yourself. It wasn’t until I got to NOLS that I began asking, ‘Who am I? Where am I going?’”

By Caroline Dooley NOLS Grad

With an Arabic family name that translates to Mr. Moon, Zaid Abouqamar has long been inspired by space. He feels at home in the unknown. Whether he’s pitching a tent in Wyoming or working as an aircraft engineer for Qatar Airways, Zaid enjoys a challenge.

A 30-year-old Qatari, Zaid was born a Palestinian refugee and raised in Qatar. Due to his family’s status, he wasn’t eligible to leave the country. “As a refugee, you’re told you will never be able to travel.” Zaid said. “So, I learned skills that would grant me a career where I could travel.” Zaid taught himself how to code in multiple programming languages, attended Al Jazeera media trainings, earned degrees in mechanical engineering, and landed a job as a Senior Aircraft Structures Development Engineer at Qatar Airways. Today, his job enables him to travel every month.

Instead of traveling for leisure, Zaid decided to utilize traveling to continue his personal and professional development. In 2019, he made his way to the Wind River Range in Wyoming to take a NOLS Executive Leadership Expedition course. The weeklong course, which develops leadership among professionals, pushed Zaid out of his comfort zone. Not only had he never opened a sleeping bag or set up a tent, but Zaid hadn’t confronted the big questions that the course pushed him to consider.

“I thought leadership meant management, but really, it means understanding yourself,” Zaid reflected. “It wasn’t until I got to NOLS that I began asking, ‘Who am I? Where am I going?’”

For Zaid, the answers to these questions circulated largely around his identity as a refugee. “In Qatar I am considered a Qatari. But anywhere else, it’s up to the person I am dealing with to determine my identity. To them, I may be a Palestinian, or an Egyptian. In a few cases, my papers are not recognized at all.” That’s one reason Zaid is so drawn to space. “Up there, no one can say, ‘You’re this or you’re that.’ It’s a frontier that’s not easily reachable, so everyone is on the same playing field.”

NOLS pushed Zaid to think deeply not only about his nationality, but about his decision-making skills. “Growing up as a refugee, I didn’t have any option but to take all the options,” he reflected. Before NOLS, Zaid considered himself a smart decision maker. But when he had to determine a hiking route or a lunch stop, Zaid noticed he struggled to make decisions for the group. “Now, I notice that decision paralysis coming on,” Zaid said. “I’m more likely to gather information from my environment before making a decision.”

Zaid is one of the first people from the Arabian Gulf states to take a NOLS course. He didn’t know anything about Wyoming when he booked his trip. “I can’t believe people are missing out on this,” Zaid remarked. “It takes a person coming from the other side of the world to remind people how special NOLS is.”

Caroline “Cal” Dooley is a writer and NOLS Alaska grad from the San Francisco area. When not leading backpacking trips, she runs, journals, and drinks tea.