It may be cheesy, but campus may feel a little "bleu" next year, after biomedical engineering major Noor Abufares' graduation this spring. Campus has been a "gouda" place for students to feel at home, thanks in large part to Abufares, who, for the last few years, could be seen at New Student Orientation, the homecoming bonfire, and other campus events proudly sporting a Wisconsin-style cheesehead hat. 

Ironically, when she started ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, she didn't even like cheese.

What has now become a sharp part of her wardrobe started as a joke. The Zionsville, Indiana native competed in Future Problem Solving Program International in middle and high school. At the competition, participants traditionally exchange items representing their home, and, much to her dismay, Abufares was never able to persuade the Wisconsin competitors to relinquish their hold on the highly-sought headgear. Abufares, who has worked for the Center for Global Engagement for four years, playfully mentioned her cheddar chagrin to Senior Director Kathy Hammett. Hammett appeared a few days later with a cheesehead from her own collection for Abufares. 

The cheese hat and the sense of community it embodied both carved the way for Abufares to pursue one of her biggest passions: inviting everyone around her to a seat at the table. 

"I've always been surrounded by an international community," she said. "I've always felt connected in that way, and I wanted to make other people realize that we're not that different and there's a community for them here." 

Abufares helped to revitalize the International Student Association (ISA), serving three terms as its secretary and a year as its president. The organization, which is open to all students, hosts annual all-campus events including the International Fashion Show and the Spicy Food Challenge.

"We're trying to foster more connections between domestic and international students and trying to bring everyone together through ISA," Abufares said.

At the end of her first year on campus, Abufares felt something was missing: a place for Muslim students to connect. Reaching out to students whom she thought might be interested, Abufares founded the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and has since served as its president for three years.MSA seeks to create a welcoming environment for Muslim students and to educate the ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ faculty, staff, and students about the religion of Islam, according to its constitution.

The group hosted Pi-vilion potlucks, welcoming all students to share a meal with them.  Abufares also noted that she has received messages from prospective students asking about the organization.

"It's not just for who's here right now, but also who might potentially come here," Abufares said. "Seeing that a small thing I did actually has a big impact on someone's life is really cool."

Her dedication to both ISA and MSA, as well as her mentor roles in both the International Transition Mentors Program and the Buddy Program, prompted Hammett to recommend Abufares to serve as a member of the design team for the Advancing by Design strategic plan theme, “Prepare Students to be Leaders in a Global and Complex Society.” 

"I was able to voice my opinions to people who would otherwise probably not hear that voice," Abufares said. "One of my ideas actually made it through to the current stage, so now it's being planned in more detail."

Passionate about language as well as community and culture, Abufares has sought to advance that interest at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ as well. She is an ESL tutor, a role aided by her own linguistic lessons. Abufares grew up speaking English and Arabic, took Chinese classes for six years, and taught herself Korean.

Her senior capstone design project uniquely allowed the Noblitt Scholar to combine her love of languages with her biomedical engineering background; her team designed the "Motion Mat," a personalized "gaming console" to help a child develop his spelling skills, physical upper-body movements, and attention span. Modeled after the game "Dance Dance Revolution," the device prompts the child to tap the corresponding tiles to spell a word, and, after the timer runs out, rewards the child with a dance break to a song of his choosing. The project required Abufares to lean on her community and ask for help, a skill she has honed over the last four years.

"We did a lot of coding, so we would have to go to a computer science professor," she explained. "Overall, I've just become a little bit more social and less scared of trying new things and challenging myself."

These skills will melt right into Abufares' next challenge — working as a staff validation engineer at Performance Validation in Indianapolis. 

As she has pushed herself out of her comfort zone, Abufares has been accompanied by what she lovingly calls her "emotional support cheese," squeezing the cheesehead hat for reassurance during exams. Through her commitment to community and her capstone project, Abufares has provided similar levels of emotional support to those around her over the last four years, helping everyone she encounters to feel like the "big cheese."