After taking her Abitur degree (Deutsche Schule der Borromäerinnen/Kairo) Ebtihal Abdel Kawi Shedid studied German Literature at Cairo University. She then started off working with the Goethe Institute in Cairo, mainly in supporting international events for which her excellent foreign language skills were considered extremely valuable. In 2008, Ebtihal Abdel Kawi Shedid applied for a KAAD scholarship for the Master Programme "Sprache, Kultur und Translation" at the University of Mainz (Fachbereich Translations-, Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft/Germersheim). The scholarship gave her the opportunity of pursuing her formation as a professional translator as well as exploring academic perspectives on translation didactics and critique.

Online journalism and new media have been at the focus of Ebtihal's professional interests from the beginning. She continually contributed to the German-Arabic youth website "Li-Lak" that she joined in spring 2007, and kept up cooperating with her team colleagues at the Goethe Institute while taking her Master studies in Germersheim. In addition to this, she was involved in numerous projects ranging from the translation of children's literature and dramas as well as international theatre events. During her time at the University of Mainz, the young Muslima has been one of the active participants in the programme of the local Catholic University Community (Katholische Hochschulgemeinde Landau und Germersheim) and has served on KAAD's commission for the annual education programme (KAAD-Bildungskommission).

Ebtihal Abdel Kawi Shedid returned to Egypt on the verge of the revolution events. Finding herself joining the protests on Tahrir Square - just a couple of weeks after her wedding - had been unanticipated when she booked her flight home. Egypt then had a second surprise waiting for her, with the Goethe Institute offering her the editor's post for "Transit". She has not hesitated to accept the challenge. Just as she had underlined in a panel discussion held as part of the "Bonner Forum Kirche und Entwicklung" series in May 2011, there has been little margin for free expression and active participation for independent voices within Egypt's intellectual elites. The 2011 events have now opened up the public sphere to critical debate. The online magazine "Transit" is offering a platform to dozens of young authors voicing their perspectives on the transition processes that the "Arabic Spring" has brought about. They are painting a vivid, albeit ambivalent picture of today's reality: Updates on military court trials against opposition members and bloggers are just one mouse-click away from news from Egypt's vibrantly evolving music scene.

Ebtihal Abdel Kawi Shedid's place of work is at the core of a highly dynamic bilingual communication network. It is for the energizing dynamism that she is grateful having returned to Egypt in challenging times. She is confident that young Egyptians devoting courage and creativity to the current process of change will finally help stabilize a dynamic transformation process that will succeed in finding answers to the enormous challenges that Egypt's young generation is facing these days.