Born in Egypt, fluent in Arabic, and possessing a PhD, this great all-star came to Milton High by accident. The mysterious and surprising Amal Radwan is much more than anyone could have anticipated, and weirdly enough, she became Milton High’s very own French teacher all thanks to a lucky coincidence.

Though she now teaches here in the United States, Radwan was born in Alexandria, Egypt. She learned how to speak Arabic, but because her mother was a teacher at a French-speaking school, French has always been a part of her life.

As a kid, Radwan had dreams of becoming an artist and dancer. She laughed as she said, “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be a ballet dancer.”

While those dreams may have dissipated into memories, she’s always remained a creative person, and that creativity helped shape her career.

After earning her Master’s in Chemical Engineering in Alexandria, Egypt, she moved to the U.S. to further pursue her academic career as a PhD student at Northeastern University in Boston. She achieved many great things during her scientific career, including the invention of a unique aerogel that helped with making the desert a more suitable place for life.

In fact, many of her accomplishments were centered around the environment. She did her Master’s thesis on pollution, wrote a paper that was published in The Nature Magazine, and even helped clean Revere Beach of toxic algae. In many ways, we have her to thank for helping improve the world we live in.

In 2003, a friend of Radwan needed her help with teaching. Although her mother had been a role model teacher, Radwan had never put too much thought on the subject of becoming one herself. Nonetheless, Radwan stepped in as a substitute teacher.

Against all odds, she slowly began to realize just how much she loved it. Her newfound passion combined her talents in language, creativity, and helping others, and she now uses it to teach the students at Milton High School to be better than they were yesterday.

Life means choices. And just like Radwan, everyone can decide to be whoever they want to be, whenever they decide to do it. There is no limit to what anyone can do as long as they love what they’re doing, and Radwan proves this to be true every day.

Quoting Antoine de Saint- Exupéry, author of “Le Petit Prince,” Radwan said, “One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye”.