What have I learned intellectually? 

I learned so much in this class that I never thought I would pass through in my academic life. Also, what I liked the most about the topics so far that it’s not all about academic, rather on the social life and putting others into perspective, which is very beneficial for me since I never really took these in a previous course. Therefore, there are several topics that really helped me become more intellectual and experienced on an academic and social level.

The Privilege Walk (Putting Inequities Into Perspective)

The Privilege Walk activity was mainly about having different roles, provided by Dr. Maha, that were divided into various categories, such as nationality, religion, financial/social level, etc. Each student had a different role, I remember having Egyptian, Christian, and Middle class. We first started by standing on the same line, and then Dr. Maha was asking us questions about different life scenarios, like jobs, education, safety, and living situations; to either step forward or backward based on the answer to the question. For me, I was more in the middle, however, others who had different roles were either in the back or in the front. To be honest, this activity was very eye opening, since no one can really put others into perspective without actually being in their shoes. Therefore, I was very empathetic with each role and how much there is different types of inequity that some people didn’t know about. What I felt was quite touching that it’s all really about fate and what life people are born into. A question that I might still have about this activity is what can we do in order to help raise awareness on any type of inequity? As for the Soliya experience, because there were so many different people around the world with different stories, this activity was beneficial for me since I tried putting myself into their perspective.

What kind of Asian are you? 

Even though we found this short video funny, it’s not really funny for those who experience it. Since, it showed how much people can go through racism by a simple question, “Where are you from?”. However, after the woman said that she’s from San Diego, he kept asking her again “Where are you really from?”, which was very disrespectful and I could visibly see that she was uncomfortable with him. What I learned most about this activity is how much racism can be spread around asking these questions. Also, what I found interesting was when she asked him where he’s really from, and him finding it weird or confusing since it can be obvious without asking. This shows how much some people go through a hard time because of racism. I have an experience similar to an interaction that happened in class, which was when Dr. Maha asked a guest speaker in class where he’s from since he pronounced a word differently. Therefore, this was very respectful and genuine. I think a question would be how can we try to make people learn when the right time/place is to ask the question, while remaining respectful, and when it’s inappropriate to ask this question? Also this video was definitely beneficial with Soliya since there were time where I wanted to ask where some people are from, but felt like it can come out as disrespectful or inappropriate.

How Language Shapes the Way we Think?

This topic was very interesting since I never really thought about the difficulty of translation, since it can sometimes completely change the meaning of a sentence or a word. An example that I mentioned before in class that I still would like to look into was translating the Quran from Arabic to English, without completely changing the meaning, which is actually quite challenging since the true meaning and emotion behind what’s being said can never be translated literally and still have the same idea. For example, in the GCC experience, there were so many things that I was thinking about saying in Arabic and tried to translate it to English, but the translation was never really what I wanted to say. So, I think I would definitely like to look more into this topic.

Syrian Refugee Journey: BBC (Choose your own escape route)

Even though this game was very interesting to play, it was quite eye opening since I can never really be in their shoes, also it was very similar to the Privilege Walk. Therefore, playing the Privilege Walk was helpful for playing the Syrian Refugee Game. However, what was very heartbreaking about this game is you can never really know what choice is the most suitable since you have never and most likely will never be in their shoes, which is most probably the reason to why so many of us lost quickly in the game.

I discovered so many new things about myself that I never really thought about, those of which includes that I can be emotionally intelligent and considerate around others. Also, I remembered that I can be very empathetic about certain situations to the point where it can physically painful to think about the situation. This class also made me very open minded and curious to learn about others’ opinions, perspectives, and how they view/think of the world in general. I believe I was also able to become more aware of my own background, culture, and identity. The Soliya & GCC experience will definitely be affected by my identity through the ability of becoming more confident and connected.

Additionally, something that I learned in terms of interactions is that I should be a good listener and be a person who doesn’t judge the person in front of them. I also realized that I should become more considerate and empathetic with those who are different from me, and obviously that the background/culture & gender should affect the type of interaction, rather elevate it. This way each person will be able to respect the other, without creating any judgmental and negative environment.

The question about how I can become a better global citizen always crosses my mind, since I always feel like it’s my responsibility to become a better person each day and take action. Also, because of the major problems around the world, I think becoming a good global citizen would mean that I’m responsible for raising awareness and acknowledging the issue. Hopefully, Soliya will help me become a good citizen globally because of how we interact with so many people around the world, then I would become more experienced. Also, I would definitely use my Soliya experience when it comes to interacting with others who can be different from me, in terms of culture, background, gender, and religion, in a way where it would elevate the discussions.

If the topic of Palestine were to come up in Soliya, I expect to become very empathetic, but defensive on Palestine, meaning that I would like to include the strong historical and human approach. Even though there are so many people from countries around the world with different opinions and understandings (based on differences in education and media), I would try to educate them about the truth and even show them proof and the history that everything has been happening from decades ago. It’s important to keep note that the environment should be safe, respectful, and welcoming so that others are able to share their views and understandings, this way everyone would be able to learn about what’s right and wrong. Also the type of support that would be needed can be from the facilitator or from any Arabs with me that would be able to back me up on the facts that I would be saying.