Zohra Atmar 2010
Zohra Atmar’s mother carried her into Pakistan as a baby to escape the conflict in Afghanistan. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1983, where Zohra, her brother and sister were raised in Alexandria by their mother.
At T.C. Williams, Zohra, who described herself as the “funny girl with big, curly hair,” was in the Color Guard, the Asian Club, and managed the track team her junior and senior years. Zohra became involved with the Peer Mediation program and, in that role, met with President Clinton, who visited T.C. in the wake of the Columbine school shooting. Zohra’s training in conflict mediation helped set the stage for her future work in Afghanistan.
With a scholarship from the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, Zohra was able to attend Virginia Tech. There she became more involved with multicultural issues, founding the Virginia Tech Eta chapter of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. Zohra graduated cum laude, with a major in political science and a triple minor in history, sociology and international studies.
In 2006, Zohra fulfilled a dream when she returned to Afghanistan as a program support officer for an Afghan non-governmental organization. She joined the International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul, and had the opportunity to travel extensively through eastern Afghanistan as a trainer and informal ambassador, forging common understanding between Afghan and Western personnel and citizens.
Committed to a career in diplomacy and building cross-cultural relationships, Zohra later spent time in Jordan to study religion and language. In 2009, Zohra joined Booz-Allen Hamilton as an instructor who trains military and civilian personnel on regional and cultural issues.
T.C. Williams Class of 1999
B.A., Political Science, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, 2003
