An Interview with Theresa Urist, Global Director of University Counselling at the Aga Khan Academies

Theresa Urist has always loved to learn. Growing up in a rural community in New York state, where many of her classmates did not go on to college, her thirst for education led her to Stanford, where she earned a B.A. with Honours in American Studies and tutored high school students in her spare time. She realised that she loved teaching as much as she loved to learn, so she secured a spot in the Master of Education programme at Harvard University before becoming a high school teacher and, later, a university counsellor.
 

After more than two decades as a counsellor in the United States, where she directed college counselling at three different schools, Theresa’s desire to support students from poor communities led her to the Aga Khan Academies, where she became the Global Director of University Counselling in 2015. Her role is essential to the mission of the Academies, which aim to produce effective, ethical leaders with the skills and knowledge to support positive development in their societies. As the networks’ university expert, she coordinates the university counselling process so that the students are admitted to and select universities where they will flourish in their chosen fields.

Aga Khan Academies writer Alia Dharssi sat down for a conversation with Theresa about her passion for education, her work at the Academies and what makes her tick. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Alia: Can you tell me about yourself and how you wound up becoming a university counsellor? 

Theresa: I was born and raised in a very small town on Long Island in New York State. I wanted to be a journalist as a kid and wound up writing for my college daily newspaper, where I had a 1am news deadline. It was crazy and frenetic. I realised that’s not what I wanted to do, but I had also begun tutoring at a nearby school and I really, really loved working with the students. That experience put me in the direction of education. I earned a Masters of Education from Harvard and became an English and history teacher. In 1995, I answered the call to become an interviewer for Harvard undergraduate admissions. I loved talking to students about their future plans and goals during the interviews, so I put the pieces together and entered the field of university counselling.

Alia: What makes you passionate about education? 

Theresa: The way I see it, education is the key to social mobility. When students – like the ones on full financial aid at the Academies who are selected through our talent identification programme – become educated, it’s something that doesn’t just benefit them. It benefits their family and their community and has a ripple effect. I see it as a way that entire communities can get themselves out of poverty in one generation. Education is the most concentrated way you can effect lasting social change. That’s what gets me up in the morning every single day to do the work that I do.

Alia: Have you always thought about education in this way?

Theresa: Education is always something that has been at the forefront of my mind.  My parents were well educated, but I grew up in a very rural community where a lot of people had not studied beyond the secondary level. So, when I went off to university at Stanford 3,000 miles away from home, it was an eye-opening experience. I was surrounded by very motivated people with a lot of interesting ideas. I had been a big fish in a little pond in my secondary school because I was somebody who was very hungry for education. I tried to access a lot of educational opportunities despite the fact that I attended a regional, rural public high school that did not offer the most enriching academic experience. College was the first time in my life I was surrounded by students who had had very different life experiences, who had gone to schools that were very academically rigorous, who were incredibly curious. It was vibrant and transformative.

Alia: That sounds like an amazing experience. You started working at the Academies after two decades of working as a counsellor in the US.  What inspired you to take the job?  

Theresa: When I heard about the job, it seemed like a perfect fusion of my interests. The mission of the Academies in terms of providing educational opportunities for students regardless of their means is one that spoke to my heart.  In two decades of counselling, I had gone from working in college prep, private schools to working at an urban public school with very low-income students. There are so many talented kids whose socioeconomic background prevents them from accessing very good academic opportunities in places where they’re going to flourish. And so, in my own job search, I was looking for an organisation that provided such opportunities for students in need. I was also interested in international education – in addition to being a US citizen, I’m also a Swiss citizen and I’ve spent a good amount of time overseas – so this position really spoke to me.

Alia: What kinds of struggles have you seen students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds face when it comes to getting a good education?

Theresa: In my last role in the US, I was working in an urban public charter school with low-income students from all over the world. The majority of my students were first generation, meaning their parents had immigrated to the US. They did not speak English at home and they would be the first in their families to access higher education. I helped them navigate the system. Many of their families came from countries where poverty was a problem. Just getting to the US was a big hurdle. In addition, education is very, very expensive in the US, so it was a challenge for those students to figure out how to finance their education.

Alia:  That sounds quite different from your role at the Academy. How do the two experiences compare?

Theresa: I certainly have a lengthy background in university counselling, but when I was based in one single school, it was quite limiting in a lot of ways. My work at the Academies requires a much larger scope in terms of finding what universities are a best fit for particular students. I had good working knowledge of US and Canadian schools coming in. What’s newer for me is some of the other schools beyond that, particularly schools in the UK. It’s given me a greater global perspective on education in terms of the different programmes that exist and the ways in which universities are trying to position themselves globally.

Alia: Can you tell me about your trips to the Academies? What was your first impression?

Theresa: My first visit was to Hyderabad. I found the students compelling and the facilities stunning. Everything exists in the service of students and forwarding their academic and personal growth. When I first made a visit to the Mombasa school, I found the level of arts that students were doing and the level of introspection that went into what they were creating was incredibly deep and heartfelt. It was more advanced than what I’d seen at other schools. A lot of the students’ art projects dealt with issues of social justice and presented very clear messages that made me hopeful. Seeing that level of attention given to something that is often peripheral at other schools speaks volumes about the Academies.

Alia:  Absolutely. Why is your role important to the Academies’ vision? 

Theresa: As we grow as a network, we want to make sure we are offering a consistent quality of university counselling services across campuses, so that’s a really important part of my work. We want colleges and universities across the globe to know who we are and why they should admit our students and fund them, so a big part of my job is conducting outreach to universities and colleges. When a university takes a risk on a student and that student does well, then it knows that it has a viable academic candidate and will admit more and more students from our schools. My job is to try to create pipelines for students at academically rigorous universities that recognise who we are and why our students are so interesting and compelling.

I also conduct some professional development like workshops for faculty members where they receive training about best practices for writing recommendations for students. Both campuses are now on the Naviance platform, which is an online portal that allows students to track all their applications and send documents to universities electronically. We also track data on the admissions process on the platform.  

Alia: That’s important work, but now for a less serious question. What do you do when you’re not busy counselling?

Theresa: I love to cook and bake. In particular, I like making fancy cakes and tortes. Every year, during the holidays, I create a gingerbread house. They’re not basic ones; I have architectural plans. Last year, I made a church with candy stained glass windows. The year before, it was a Victorian house. Every year I do a different structure.  

Alia: That’s quite a hobby. Do you eat the houses?

Theresa: Yes, eventually I do. My friend’s kids help me decorate the house, it stays up and then it gets destroyed. So that’s one of my hobbies. To balance my baking interests, I was a distance runner and had run a bunch of marathons, but I had to stop after an injury. But I still really like to be active. I like hiking and skiing and being outside.

Alia: Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Theresa: I love the work I do. I feel like mine is a really important role, so I’m just very grateful for the opportunity to work on behalf of the Academies. 

 

Congratulations to the Class of 2022! We are so proud of you and cannot wait to see what you do next. As we welcome the new graduating class to our alumni community, we asked four distinct graduates from the Aga Khan Academies in Mombasa and Hyderabad about their journeys and aspirations.

Imra Dawoodani, AKA Hyderabad

Plans to join the University of California, Berkeley in the USA to study electrical engineering and computer science.

What drives you? What is your superpower?

The impact of experiences. Experiences have moulded the most intricate details of the world as I see it. Whether new, old, unexpected or a planned experience, each circumstance prompts the creation of a new approach within me, defining my ability to adapt to a multitude of situations. Sometimes it outlines my path, in other cases it intrigues me to look for one.

How did the Academy impact you?

It has been a journey. Exposing me to every emotion one could feel, pushing me forward every second because life never stops, and opening routes to a variety of opportunities, the Academy has thoroughly done its part in making me realise that I am the only one who can take a call for myself.

You are a new addition to the crayon box; what colour would you be and why?

Grey may not seem like the ideal choice, but it depicts my conflicted self. I am the one trying to figure out light and darkness, ebbs and flows, the balance between emotions and practicality. A simpler derivative to this conclusion would be my utterly annoying indecisiveness. I would be the one to mix sushi and dal, however horrendous it sounds, because I just cannot choose what I want to eat today.

 

Jacintha Thota, AKA Hyderabad

Plans to join the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK to study politics and economics.

What drives you?

Two things that have driven me for a very long time are fascination and long-term goals. I am someone who just loves the idea of learning new things. Whatever I put my mind to is always driven by a sense of love, a sense of wonder, whether that's my academics or my extracurriculars. That fascination keeps me going. When it comes to long-term goals, I do know I want to work in the field of economics when it comes to equity or sustainability and that has shaped my interests and path.

How did the Academy impact you?

The most profound impact has been that it has shown me the world is so much bigger than the bubble that you grow up in. It brought together people from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. It has shaped my goals to be community-oriented and it has shown me that being a good person is having the right mindset and being tolerant of new ideas and new people.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

COVID-19 lockdowns and the kind of terror it put around the world when I was doing my Diploma Programme journey meant it was incredibly hard to stay motivated when people were suffering around you by the thousands. It left me with a sense of cynicism and feeling really demotivated. But actually, coming back to the Academy and being around people again reminded me just how much I valued this community. It definitely helped overcome the sense of dread I had started to feel during those 18 months or so.

 

Khushi Bajaria, AKA Mombasa

Plans to join the University of Miami in the USA to study health science (pre-med).

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? What was your best mistake?

I faced the challenge of making friends because of the way I felt the need to please my friends continuously. However, as I focused time on my goals, I eventually became part of a diverse group of friend groups. I also first thought it was a mistake that I ignored the warning from my personal project coordinator to not go ahead with my idea as it may impact my grades if I fail in it. However, as I believed in the impact it could make and communicated it with the right people, I was able to be successful and make a greater impact than expected.

How would you describe success and what do you hope to achieve in the next five years?

Success is a never-ending mountain with large rocks of joy and glee that help one stay stable, and numerous smaller rocks that keep pushing one to slip backwards in their journey of meeting their expectations. The soil of the mountain is then like family and friends that support and help piece part of this journey together to make success what it is. I hope to have completed my bachelor's degree in health sciences and my first year of medical school over the next five years. I also hope to have expanded my project (teaching Grade 5 to 7 students how to create an eco-friendly microscope). I hope by then, I shall have taught the developmental process in more than 15 schools in different countries through an international team.

 

Mishal Lalani, AKA Mombasa

Plans to join Middlebury College in the USA to study microbiology and biochemistry as well as geography and sociology.

What are your plans after graduation?

Firstly, I plan to sleep, have fun and just wind down all the stress over the past two years. I also look forward to and plan to spend time with my family before I leave for university in August, as well as the friends who live around me. Similarly, I hope to do a short internship at the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa just to grasp the healthcare environment as that is what I hope to pursue in the future.

What drives you? What is your superpower?

What has particularly always driven me is the community around me. Seeing the community improve when I help out or participate in different community projects makes me want to go the extra mile and do more.

How did the Academy impact you?

The Academy made me an all-rounded individual and made me a global citizen. Being the first cohort to go on the Student Exchange programme, I felt very privileged to be at the Academy and to have access to such amazing opportunities that will indeed be spoken about and recognised for the rest of my life. I made the most special memories at the Academy. Most importantly, the Academy taught me that no matter who I am or where I come from, I can make a change if I want to. This was the biggest lesson for me, and I believe it will take me far in life.