Aqsa Mahmud made the most of her years in the Honors Program. She participated in undergraduate research, traveled to Asia, interned with both the District Attorney’s office in Rockdale County and the National Association of Counties (NACo) in Washington, DC, and was a leader in the Roosevelt Institute and the Honors Teaching Assistant program.

Aqsa has conducted research both locally and globally, resulting in four publications while an undergraduate. In the summer of 2006, Aqsa traveled to Pakistan’s Punjab province, where she analyzed existing trends of urbanization in Punjab. At the same time, through a CURO-directed reading, she focused on female gender roles in agrarian-based economies.

Following this experience, she wrote an article concerning the changing roles of rural Punjab women in light of urban pressures. The article, “Under the Rug Swept: Rural Punjab Women in the Ecotone of Urbanization,” is currently pending publication in the Geographische Rundschau, International Edition. Aqsa also won the 2007 CURO Best Paper Award with International Focus for this project.

In the summer of 2007, Aqsa interned with NACo in Washington, D.C., where she researched annexation provisions. Her final product, “A Look at Annexation Laws: A State by State Report,” was published by NACo. Aqsa has also published “The Saudi Solution: Answering the Call for Reform” in the UGA Journal of Undergraduate Research Opportunities (JURO) and “Seeking a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone: Its Analysis and Application to Northeast Asia” in The Monitor, issued by the Center for International Trade and Security. 

About the Honors Program Aqsa said, "I chose UGA for its Honors Program. It was there that I found professors who taught their interests, knew my name, and provided a direction for every one of my interests. Within an Honors classroom, there exists an understanding between the teacher and the students: the professor wants to teach, and we want to learn. Overall, I define my undergraduate experience by the opportunities provided to me by the Honors Program and the relationships that I have cultivated through its community."

Aqsa is now a law student at the University of Michigan and during the summer of 2009 interned for the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

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