<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><item href="/about/newsroom/student-stories-idil-omar.cfm" dsn="blogs"><featured>true</featured><pubDate>01/12/2026</pubDate><title>Criminal Justice student hails challenging coursework</title><description>Every time Idil Omar comes to The University of Baltimore, she’s relishes in the inspiration of it all. She sees a friendly, respectful community of students working toward their dream careers, mirroring her own experience. </description><author>Student Stories</author><image><img src="https://www.ubalt.edu/about/newsroom/assets/images/idil-omar-feature.jpg" alt="Idil Omar smiles at the camera while posing in the UBalt library."/></image><image-cap/><quote>I feel well supported like I've never been before.</quote><quote-name>Idil Omar</quote-name><quote-info>M.S. in Criminal Justice</quote-info><tags><tag>College of Public Affairs</tag><tag>Student Stories</tag></tags></item>