HOUSTON — Meet Saad Nadeem, the University of Houston graduate who will walk across the stage after an impressive accomplishment. The 2023 grad completed three majors and three minors.
"Bachelor of Science in Public Health, Bachelor of Science in Exercise Sciences, and Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Foods. And I'm also triple minoring in biology, business administration, management and leadership," Nadeem said.
He did it all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. So, how did he do it?
"A lot of sleepless nights. I remember I would petition to take an overload of classes every semester," he said.
He was born in Pakistan and grew up in Clear Lake. It took him four years of non-stop studying, but his hard work has definitely paid off.
He said his achievements are the result of his family and the years of hard work they put in before he even came to the United States.
It helped. Nadeem's father, Khwaja, said his son entered college with several associate degrees he got in high school.
Khwaja came to the U.S. just over 20 years ago. To think that his son would not only be the first in the family to graduate college but to do it with such high honors is something he could have never imagined.
Saad came to the States when he was 5.
"There wasn't really access to any kind of health care," he said. "I saw my own relatives, at a young age, you know, pass away from curable diseases."
Saad has been accepted to a Texas medical school. It's an opportunity not only to move forward, but to honor his late grandmother, Nene, and shape his community.
"She was passionate about me going into this field and becoming a doctor," Saad said. "I want to do the best I can in serving the community and making the world better."
Since he graduated with multiple degrees from multiple schools, he gets to walk across the stage for each one. On Thursday, he walked with the College of Liberal Arts. On Saturday, he will walk at the Fertitta Center for the College of Education.