Schuylkill Speaks! Graduating Student Profile: Malak Mowafi.
Editor's note: This story is part of a series profiling exceptional members of Penn State Schuylkill’s graduating class. For more stories like Mowafi's, visit Schuylkill Speaks! The series is written by Renee Paetzell, a fourth-year Penn State Schuylkill student majoring in human resources with a minor in corporate communications.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — With a double major in criminal Jjustice and cybersecurity analytics and operations, along with minors in sociology and security risk and analysis, Malak Mowafi has a busy schedule — and nothing is slowing her down.
Mowafi has embraced an active lifestyle and a deep commitment to community service. She has dedicated herself to athletics while also engaging in various service projects. The field of criminal justice strongly appealed to her, as it allows her to remain physically active while making a positive impact on the community. At the same time, her passion for technology, particularly programming, led her to enroll in Assistant Teaching Professor Brian Gardner’s computer science courses during her first semester at Penn State Schuylkill.
Reflecting on that experience, Mowafi shared: “Throughout that course, Professor Gardner’s unwavering support and recognition of my hidden potential propelled me to explore the cybersecurity major.”
When choosing where to pursue her education, Mowafi sought a university that resonated with her on a personal level. She wanted an institution with a strong academic reputation, a close-knit community, and opportunities to connect with both peers and faculty. Penn State Schuylkill provided all of that and more.
“Penn State Schuylkill encompasses all of the elements I was seeking in a university: a strong academic reputation, a supportive and personalized learning environment, athletic opportunities, and research possibilities,” she said.
With opportunities at her fingertips, Mowafi has made the most of her time on campus. She has been a member of the women’s basketball team since her first year and later became captain of both the cross-country and track and field teams. She also made history as a founding member of the campus’s first-ever flag football team, making Penn State Schuylkill the first campus to establish such a team.
Beyond athletics, Mowafi has actively contributed to campus life. She serves as a Peer Tutor and Peer Academic Coach, is a member of the Honors Program, and holds leadership roles as vice president of the Criminal Justice Club and co-founder of the Pickleball Club. She also is involved in the National Cybersecurity Association.
Mowafi also has made an impact through research. Her projects include:
- Digital Distortions: Crime Perceptions Among College Students
- Addressing Cybersecurity Issues and Needs of Rural Pennsylvania Nonprofit Organizations
- A Comparative Analysis of Cybersecurity Awareness and Digital Forensic Readiness in Law Enforcement Agencies
- Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Global Law Enforcement
For students looking to make the most of their college experience, Mowafi offers this advice: “Take every opportunity you can and don’t say no to anything. Get involved, try new things, and go on all the trips. … You never know what experience might change your life.”
Q: Outside of academics, what was the most valuable lesson you learned?
Mowafi: The most valuable lesson I learned was how to balance multiple commitments while maintaining a high performance and level of engagement in all of them. Managing four sports, two majors, two minors, three on-campus jobs, and multiple research projects taught me the importance of discipline and time management. One of the biggest academic challenges was taking 12 classes in a single semester, from three different colleges, which made the aforementioned skills even more important to me. These experiences also taught me the importance of asking for help and having a good support system. Balancing all of those aspects was definitely challenging, but it pushed me to develop necessary skills for my future and showed me that nothing is impossible.
Q: What is your favorite Penn State Schuylkill memory?
Mowafi: Choosing a single most memorable experience from my time at Penn State Schuylkill is incredibly tough. However, one of the many things that stands out has been the opportunity to participate in sports year-round and travel with my teams. It combines two of my greatest passions: athletics and traveling. Whether it was competing in Virginia Beach, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, or different parts of Pennsylvania, these trips have created unforgettable memories and strengthened the bonds with my teammates.
Beyond athletics, some of my most meaningful experiences have come from academic and service trips abroad. Traveling to Portugal for a service project with The Fuller Center for Housing allowed me to help rehabilitate homes for families in need, an experience that was both humbling and rewarding. I am also looking forward to my upcoming service trip to Romania, where I will continue this work by helping build and restore homes for communities in need. Another standout experience was my embedded travel program in London, where I took a seven-week course on serial killers and European criminal justice. Exploring the difference between the U.S. and English criminal justice systems, attending lectures from law enforcement professionals and judges, and touring local police departments made this trip both academically enriching and personally eye-opening.
Additionally, my research presentations at national conferences have been some of the most rewarding moments of my academic journey. Traveling to Chicago to present my research at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Conference was an incredible experience, allowing me to share my work with experts in the field. I am also looking forward to presenting in Denver and Pittsburgh this spring, continuing to contribute to important discussions in criminal justice and cybersecurity.
These experiences, whether through sports, service or academic travel, have created lifelong memories for me, ones that I will always cherish when thinking about my college career.
Q: What will you miss most about campus?
Mowafi: What I will miss most about campus is the sense of community and the incredible friendships I’ve built over the years. Living with two of my closest friends, Isabela Caruso and Sarah Calsam, has been unforgettable, and I’ll always cherish our late-night study sessions and endless laughs. I will also miss hosting game nights and dinners for my sports teams, bringing everyone together to bond outside of competition. These moments of laughter, celebration and team bonding made my athletic experience even more special. Above all, I’ll miss the campus atmosphere, where supportive friends, professors and teammates made Penn State Schuylkill feel like home. Whether it was stopping by Coach Wilde’s office or Paige Waddell’s whenever I was bored just to chat, these small moments made my time here even more meaningful.
