Name: Nadia El-Awady

Nationality: Egyptian

Age: 41

What do you do? I have a B.Sc in medicine and surgery from Cairo University and a MA in journalism and mass communication from the American University in Cairo. I am a journalist with a gazillion jobs and hats. Just to name a few: freelance journalist, President of the World Federation of Science Journalists, lecturer of online journalism at the Al-Ahram Canadian University, program manager for the International Center for Journalists, Middle East Regional Coordinator for a large training program for African and Arab science journalists, co-director of the 7th World Conference for Science Journalists in 2011…and on and on. More importantly, I have four beautiful children aged 15, 13, 12 and 10.

Latest Athletic Accomplishment: You can’t really call me an athlete. I just like to be involved in activities. But, just recently I successfully summited the highest peak in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro, at 5895 meters. It was one of the most worthwhile activities I’ve been involved in my life!

Outlook on life: To live my own experiences rather than experience only through reading about others’.

How you train: I’ve been going to the gym semi-regularly since I was about 35. In order to train for my Kilimanjaro hike I swam, rode horses, jogged, and went up and down the stairs of my ten-story building repetitively. Now that the hike is over I’m still going up and down our stairs at least twice a week and taking my horse riding lessons also at least twice a week. I hope to reincorporate jogging into that soon.

What keeps you motivated? my zest for life, my hatred of routine, my knowledge that I can do anything I set my mind to and that I can accomplish all my dreams.

What are your future aspirations or future events you wish to participate in? definitely skydiving, scuba diving and some more mountain hiking and maybe even space exploration one day! The sky’s my limit! Wait, not even the sky can hold me back!