1. What have you learned intellectually about the topics we’ve covered so far? Please refer to at least four readings, videos, or activities that helped you learn this and explain why. What questions do you still have about these topics, and how might you use your Soliya experience to enrich your knowledge?
  • So far, my experiences with the course have helped shape my identity and personality through activities, videos, and readings. The first thing that pops up instantly is the video by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “ The Danger of a Single Story”. I was fascinated by how accurate the quote is “The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, “secondly.” It is so true and accurate quote that describes the Gaza situation now. The Western media is using this saying as a second to the 7th of October attack and my thinking is to explain this methodology that the Western media uses in Soliya’s discussions about Gaza. The second things are the digital games we have played. It gave me an idea of how Digital Narrative games work and how to start doing my own game. Some of the games had a strong message behind them such as Fake It to Make It, which is a game that shows the effect of fake news and how they create it. Thirdly, the ALTCV activity helped me provide new and interesting information that I might want to share, unlike the traditional CV which the information can be a bit boring. It also created a sense that there are a lot of things that are more important than academic achievements. Fourthly, the activity where we did roles to explain certain stereotypes that are here in Egypt such as being an AUCian and Women Driving. It was a fun experience that helped me understand more the nature of the Egyptian people towards certain ideologies. These acts happened in front of me many times that someone assumes that I am super wealthy just because I am an AUCian which frustrates me and makes me not prefer to say that I am an AUCian. Also, in the tree activity some numbers represented how I was feeling at the time, the interesting thing was that some people chose the same number but thought of it in different ways which made me realize that my views should necessarily be the right view. This also can link up to the Empathy toy that made me feel sorry for the one who is constructing blindly because I was in his situation once.

 

  1. What have you learned about yourself and the way you view the world so far? What questions do you still have about your own self and how you present yourself to the world? How do you expect your identity to affect your Soliya experience as you interact with people from other cultures? How might you use the Soliya experience to enrich your self-knowledge?
  • I had my eyes opened to many problems that the world is currently experiencing right now. Problems such as the Palestine-Israel conflicts, the Sudan crisis, and many others. It made me see the world more cruel and that it is run by people who can change things but they don’t. The question that I always ask myself is how can I change things around me where I have zero power to effectively change it? I always feel that sharing and reacting to this news is not enough to make an effective change. I hope that there is a way to directly and effectively affect them positively to help them a bit. I think my identity will change, in a positive matter I hope, as I will be meeting and talking to people from different backgrounds and cultures and that will surely affect me and my identity. I will learn new information about cultures and countries outside my zone (Egypt) that can help me explore more and enhance my view of the world. I think it will also disappoint me because I expect to see people supporting genocide in Gaza.
  1. What have you learned in terms of interactions with other people? What questions do you have about how to become a better “global citizen”? How would you like your Soliya experience to help you learn to be a good “global digital citizen”? How might you use your Soliya experience to enhance your ability to interact with culturally different people?
  • Interaction with new people from different cultures helps create an understanding of other people’s beliefs and values which expands my horizons. Due to AUC’s diverse community, I’ve done many conversations with people from different cultures and countries. Usually, these conversations elevates my self-confidence and my ability to express feelings more smoothly. I think that Soliya will help me to become a global citizen by making me know about people more therefore decreasing and eliminating stereotypes about them for example.
  1. What do you expect would happen if the issue of Palestine came up in Soliya? What would you like to do if you were able to direct the discussion? What kind of support might you need?
  • I will try my best to show that this case is not the Palestinians’ but mine too. I will show them that I am a part of the case and promote what is right and wrong in a respectful way showing my point of view with supporting evidence of how biased some media in the West is. I can have symbols in my background showing my support for the case. I will try my best to show videos, articles, and any other sources to make people better understand the cause respectfully.
  1. Use of AI is *RECOMMENDED* with Transparency
  • Note: As I didn’t show up in the days when the interviews were conducted I will create a scenario as I am interviewing myself.

Notes:

  • Liked the ALTCV activity which is the alternative CV that shows my other interesting side of me rather than academic achievements.
  • My motivation to promote Palestinian conflict with Israel is of a highest priority.
  • Loved narrative games due to it being new to me and fascinating.

What AI has generated: https://chat.openai.com/share/71b8c569-3834-4014-b807-72a1959bb50f

Reflection: AI helped and elaborated more on the matter of my rough notes as I intentionally gave it very limited text to see the results. It was a good elaboration and explanation of my notes but in a limited context and I tried to tell it that this is not enough. As it has done it for the second time, it started repeating and created a bit redundant text that doesn’t add more value to my notes.