Sou’s a twenty-something Egyptian third-year university student residing in Kuwait majoring in English Literature and minoring in French. Yes, she does know who Shakespeare is, and no, she can’t recite any poems or plays – so please don’t ask.

With roots stemming from Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey, Sou is multicultural and proud. Sou comes from an interfaith family; their diverse backgrounds and influences have broadened her horizons and shaped her to be the person that she is today.

Her passion? Books. Just when you thought it was impossible for a girl in our day and age to spend more money on books than on clothes and shoes, you’ve got Sou to prove you wrong. She doesn’t have a favourite author, but she does have a growing collection of books she considers favourites such as: The Cairo House, In the Time of the Butterflies, Eat Pray Love, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Eleven Minutes, The Tao of Pooh, Veronika Decides to Die, Ali and Nino, Middlesex, The Magdalen, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Kite Runner, Tell me Your Dreams, 100 Shades of White, Tall Poppies, Angels and Demons, Metamorphosis, Rose Madder, The Shopaholic Series, The Princess Trilogy, The Yacoubian Building, and Across the Nightingale Floor.

Her first art “masterpiece” - two crooked lines that symbolized a cat – was doodled at the tender age of one. Ever since then, Sou has taken up drawing as a lifelong hobby. Unfortunately, when she starts a drawing she rarely gets around to finishing it. She will never forget the words of her high school art teacher after he took a look at a drawing she completed, “Good job, kid!” Sou was completely oblivious to the fact that if she slacked off her art work, she would regret it later, really regret it. Once upon an art class, her art teacher introduced her to the artwork of Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, who Sou now considers as her favourite painter “ever”.

Her best friend once said, “Sou brings you the best there is in music.” If anything, Sou thinks she has a long way to go until she could be a “music buff”. She enjoys listening to Jack Savoretti, Patrick Wolf, Regina Spektor, Sia, Bic Runga, Editors, Coldplay, Keane, Travis, Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel, CSS, Ray LaMontagne, She & Him, The Bird and the Bee, Basia Bulat, Ane Brun and more, much more. Sou is also a big fan of music from the 80s and 90s; according to her, music back then was livelier and had catchier beats. Plus, who could not love music from the 80s, where big hair ruled and fashion meant clothes should never match?!

Sou enjoys almost every movie genre there is out there but loves romantic comedies the most. Some of her favourites are: Sweet Charity, The Invisible Circus, Amélie, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Butterflies are Free, Chocolat, When Mariam Spoke Out, The Dreamers, West Beirut, and Paradise Now.

Just like everyone, Sou has a serious side. She is an activist for human rights and spreads awareness on AIDS and cancer research – breast cancer to be specific; she initiated her first cancer awareness campaign at the age of seventeen. In her vision of the future, the world will be free of human-threatening diseases, poverty and filled with equal opportunities for everyone.

Still want to know more? Read this, 101 things about me.