It is unusual for the Canadian Bureau for International Education to bestow national honours on two students from the same university in the same year.

At Memorial University, that distinction belongs to Quazi Mohammad Abrar Nafis and Yar Ayuen Malual, whose leadership and service have helped shape the experience of international, refugee and newcomer students on campus and across the province.

Different routes to Canada and Memorial University

Their stories are different.

Quazi came to Canada from Bangladesh and became an advocate for international and racialized students.

He received the CBIE’s Elizabeth Paterson Award, awarded annually to an international student for their positive contribution to the internationalization of their campus community.

Yar, who is pursuing a joint bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees, has combined her studies and research interests with leadership in refugee student support.

She received the CBIE’s New World Award, awarded annually to a Canadian student for their positive contribution to the internationalization of their campus community.

Creating spaces where international students belong

As president of the International Students Resource Centre (ISC), Quazi developed initiatives intended to make international students more visible, connected and supported within the university community.

One of his initiatives, ISC ASPIRE, was created to help newly arrived international students navigate university life, connect with resources and develop relationships with their peers.

He also founded ISC RISE (Recognizing International Student Excellence), an awards program celebrating international students’ achievements, leadership and contributions.

The initiatives’ messages were powerful: international students should be recognized not only for the challenges they overcome, but also for what they contribute.

Quazi’s work has focused on international students who may experience additional barriers because of race or other aspects of their identity.

Advocacy beyond Memorial

Quazi’s leadership has also extended beyond campus.

Through the Canadian Federation of Students – N.L., he served as a provincial fieldworker, racialized students’ representative and a member of the Provincial Executive Committee.

In those roles, he advocated for equity, accessibility, anti-racism and student well-being.

He is also committed to community in his home country, where he founded ProjectDebi, a grassroots feminist initiative supporting girls’ education and survivors of gender-based violence.

At Memorial, Quazi, who completed a bachelor of science in human biosciences with a ninor in gender studies this past spring, combined his community work with his academic interests.

He also volunteered more than 2,500 hours of his personal time, receiving Memorial’s Gold and Platinum Level Volunteering Awards for his service.

Refugee student advocacy

Yar’s leadership journey started as a Student Refugee Program assistant.

She helped incoming refugee students navigate university systems and the practical realities of settling into life in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Her work included support with academic navigation, health care, financial services and social integration.

She later became chair of Memorial’s World University Service of Canada (WUSC) local committee, taking on a larger leadership role in refugee sponsorship and newcomer support.

In the position, she helped lead culturally inclusive orientation activities, develop resources for newcomers and strengthen connections between students, university staff and community organizations.

Leadership rooted in community

Yar’s work extended beyond the WUSC.

She contributed to initiatives through Memorial’s Internationalization Office and volunteered in the broader community, including with Planned Parenthood.

For students arriving after experiences of conflict, displacement or upheaval, those connections can be particularly important.

Yar helped create an environment where newcomers can move beyond simply adjusting to a new country and begin building a sense of home.

A shared achievement

Quazi and Yar’s contributions are significant individually, but the fact that both are from Memorial makes the moment particularly noteworthy.

Their leadership represents two different dimensions of international education.

Quazi focused on international student advocacy, cultural representation, equity and creating spaces of belonging for students who may feel marginalized.

Yar focused on refugee sponsorship, newcomer settlement, mentorship and helping displaced students build new lives through education.

Neither story is simply about coming to Canada to study.

Both demonstrate how international and refugee students become contributors to the communities in which they study — organizing programs, mentoring peers, advocating for change, conducting research, volunteering and creating opportunities for others.

Their recognition also reflects a broader understanding of what internationalization can mean within a university.

It is not only about bringing students from around the world to campus.

It is also about creating an environment where those students can participate fully, share their experiences and become leaders themselves.

“Neither story is simply about coming to Canada to study.”

For Quazi, that meant asking how international students can feel more visible and represented.

For Yar, it meant helping refugee students build community and pursue their studies.

Both answered the call through action. And now, their work has received national recognition.

For Memorial’s international and refugee student communities, the recognition carries another message: some of the people shaping the university’s future are students who arrived from somewhere else, found their place here and created that sense of belonging for others.

Two students from one institution. Two journeys shaped by migration and community.

And one shared contribution to making Memorial more inclusive, connected and welcoming.