WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL Alumni
PORTLAND, OREGON
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
1991 GRADUATE, SERVING AS SOLDIER-STATESMEN
Dawood Luqman graduated from Wilson in 1991. He attended the University of Portland in the Fall of 1991 and subsequently joined the Army ROTC program in the Fall of 1992 to earn a scholarship. He majored in Life Sciences and graduated with a commission in US Army as a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry in 1996. Dawood has since served on many overseas assignments and operations to include Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Egypt, and Afghanistan. " I also had the opportunity to serve during the post Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts," adds Dawood. He is a Major in the US Army currently stationed in Hawaii as a South Asia Foreign Area Officer. Dawood states that "Foreign Area Officers are like Soldier-Statesmen who serve as regional experts (in my case South Asia since I was born in Pakistan) for the various Army Commands around the world. Our job is to help direct the Military to Military or Civil to Military cooperation between our army and the armies of friendly foreign countries. In this position in the last two years I have traveled extensively to many countries in South and Southeast Asia to inlude India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore." His current assignment in Hawaii is coming to a close in the next few months and he will be heading off to Graduate School for a Masters in International Studies. Dawood has been married for 10 years and has three children, Laila age 8, Mustafa age 5, and Reem age 1.
When asked about influential teachers at Wilson, Dawood tells us that "Ron Zaraza was probably the best teacher I had in terms of his teaching style and getting the lessons to really stick with the students (ME), Jack Bertell and Kent Dorsey for thier immense patience with my lack of math skills. And Mrs. Volz; if you had asked me in HS who the worst teacher I had ever had I would have said Mrs. Volz. I got an F in her class because I refused to study because I didn't like her. I've realized since that I was being a jerk for no reason and she probably did the best she could but I was too stubborn to make the time to do what was expected of me."
His words of wisdom for current Wilson students are that you should "Work hard at whatever you do but understand that there will come a time when others (family, friends, coworkers, the guy next to you in battle) will depend on your ability to distinguish and choose between the important things (not just to you but important to those around you) and the not so important things.