This is one in a series of articles about people who have participated in the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative. In 2013, MEPI marks its 10-year anniversary.

Washington -- Ahmed AlBibs was in prison and slated to be put to death for wanting a government that citizens respected. The 25-year-old from Junzour, Libya, a few kilometers west of Tripoli, had recently graduated from Tripoli University with a degree in mechanical and industrial engineering.

But days before his scheduled execution, Tripoli was liberated and AlBibs was freed.

AlBibs is one of more than 11,000 young leaders from throughout the Middle East and North Africa who have been selected to participate in the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative's student leaders exchange program with study in the United States. Wanting to learn how American higher education institutions blend their teaching of technical and leadership skills, he studied entrepreneurship, volunteerism, women's rights, political law and organizational development at the University of Delaware.

It was the first time AlBibs had studied those subjects. He was so enthusiastic after his first class that he went to a shopping mall and purchased a video camera to record the rest of his classes.

"It was a new way of using my mind," he said. "I figured out how to think deeply and come up with new ideas." He also learned how the United States wants to stop the trafficking of women, he noted.

He experienced other lessons. "It was the first time in my life that I learned how to learn from mistakes and about what kind of leader I want to be in the future," he said. He mentioned several colleagues who impressed him and especially praised two Delaware professors for motivating him to pursue his dreams. "They really changed my life. What I learned from this program will help me for the rest of my life," he said.

Between classes, AlBibs visited the historic cities of Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington. He spent a day with other students volunteering at a food bank in Newark, Delaware. "A food bank is a great idea, and I hope to do one in Libya," he said. "It was a good way to learn about teamwork."

Back in Libya, AlBibs founded the Alleqa Foundation, which teaches Libyan citizens about freedom, justice and development. He is managing director of Ushahidi, a nonprofit company developing free and open-source informational software.

"After I came back [from America], my friend asked me what I wanted to be in the future. I answered that maybe I want to be the Libyan president. He told me that I have to be realistic because we had one leader called Qadhafi and no one thinks Libya will change and that my plan was just a dream," AlBibs said.

With hopes of becoming a political leader, AlBibs went on to lead one of the most active nongovernmental groups in Libya.

"Don't tell anyone that it's just a dream," he said. "I am working to make it true."