Student Profile

Tiara Shafiq

Where are you working?

I've just relocated to Melbourne, Australia. As Creatrix Tiara, I have built up a five-plus year career and body of work in writing, performance art, and creative production across various fields, including publications and editorships with Autostraddle, Racialicious, The Scavenger, Mission@Tenth, Matador Travel, Vice Motherboard, Malaysiakini, and various others. I've also worked in education, community cultural development, and intersectional activism, whether with self-produced projects or other organizations. Some of the places I've worked with include the Global Fund for Women, 4zzzfm Brisbane, Vulcana Women's Circus, Tutorpedia, Queensland University of Technology, Youth Arts Queensland, Zen Zen Zo, Channel [V] International, and The Star (Malaysia).

Why did you decide to sign up for CORe?

As a result of a dare! My philosophy in life is to sign up for anything that looks interesting, and I had idly wondered about applying to high-prestige universities like Harvard. My father, who had taken an Executive Education program at Harvard Business School in the '90s and is now a massive fan of Harvard, challenged me to apply for the MBA program, and I took him on. In the process, he had heard about CORe from CNN and told me about it. So, I looked into it and decided to apply. At the very least, it would give me a good standing on business fundamentals, which would go a long way to supporting my more entrepreneurial or directorial endeavors.

What was your favorite part of the program?

I actually found the program much more fun than I anticipated. Being able to talk to the others in my cohort—especially when I started becoming a trusted cohort member and was getting valuable feedback—gave me a stronger investment in the program. Not only was I learning, I was doing well, and I could help others through my unique perspectives.

How are you applying what you've learned in CORe?

During my time in the program, I wrote weekly reviews relating what I've learned to the interests of most of my peers and community, which leaned mostly artsy or activist-y. I managed to connect ideas like willingness to pay or the cobweb model into topics as diverse as sex worker rights or minimum wage. I'm looking for opportunities to parlay what I've learned into more managerial or directorial roles in the arts and community development, where they would be most useful.

Any advice for people who will be taking CORe?

It will take up a lot of time! I was working on it practically full-time, and there was still a lot to go through. And don't be afraid to speak up if something in the course doesn't make sense or runs contrary to your experiences. I was very vocal about the ways that what we were learning may not reflect social justice-related ideals, and while it was confrontational, people seemed to really appreciate my viewpoint.