When Noorene Badwi was two years old, her family moved from Egypt to the United States under her mother’s scholar visa. The mother, a Valé Dictarian of a class of 12,000 at Cairo University and later became a professor in the United States, worked tirelessly to ensure that Budwi and his twin brothers could get greater opportunities. Still learning English, Budwi faced difficulties with her identity in her early education. But by the time she arrived at middle school, she was studying college-level calculus, studying in high school, and coaching the same children who once doubted her.
“As an immigrant, I had a lot to prove,” she says. “If it wasn’t for that part of my identity, I wouldn’t have achieved that much.”
Now, 20 years old, Budwi has already achieved more than anyone asked her. At age 16, she became the youngest statewide civil servant in the United States and represented approximately 900,000 students as a student member of the Maryland State Board of Education. “I was voting for the state’s $7 billion education budget before I was old enough to get my driver’s license,” recalls Budwi.
Budwi is an active political and advocate who has even organized an Amicus brief in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She also founded Baltimore County Youth Speaks, a grassroots coalition advocating for police reform, and through her work at Campaign Zero, a national police reform organization, she played the role of the equipment in writing a groundbreaking bill that abolished the Maryland Bill of Rights for Law Enforcement Officers. “Immigrants usually don’t sit at the table when it comes to policing,” she says. “I wanted to change that.”
Budwi appreciates the education in the Baltimore County public school system and the mentoring and support he received from his teachers and local leaders. Still, she says she needs to do more to support immigrants. Although members of her family experienced racism, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, Budwi says many new arrivals have been in even more difficult times. “In a way, it can feel guilty. I worked very hard, but I was given a lot of luck and opportunity. There are a lot of immigrants.
Currently, Georgetown students and Badwi, a paralegal at Venable LLP, the state’s largest law firm, are planning to become lawyers. Recently she received our citizenship. It’s an incredibly meaningful moment for her. “It was one of the happiest days of my life,” she says. “It made sure I belong here, but it also reminded me of how lucky I was and made me even more determined to work to support other immigrants.”