Sitting in Econ class, I felt my heart beat faster. Discussing the economic history of India, my Indian classmates spoke about the Independence movement. As they spoke about Nehru, it was easy to see the emotions on their face. Discussing the 1950's and the caste system, the classroom quickly became embroiled in a debate.
Although I've been to Pakistan only a few times in my life, I felt myself feeling sensitive. It wasn't my personal history, but the Indian-Pakistani separation is an integral part of my family's history. Hearing the students debate colonization, I began to imagine my grandparents migrating, joining the millions who walked miles to get to Pakistan.
My parents would have been young children. A baby, my mother would have strapped to my grandmother's back in make-shift cloth sling. My toddler father probably walked hand in hand with his older brother. These were people I loved, whose blood flows through my veins.
If I felt goosebumps during a simple economic discussion, I can't imagine what other grandchildren feel when people discuss segregation, slavery, apartheid, genocide, holocaust, or other troubling periods of human history.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Get Mistified!
As most people know, I love all things MSA. But what I really love is MSAers helping MSAers.
This weekend my MSA at UMD is hosting the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST). As MIST is part of the MSA National family, I've heard alot about the tournament and worked closely with Shazia, the founder. But this is the first time I've had the opportunity to help first-hand with this amazing MSA project.
Like most MSA events, MSAers bond over their mutual excited and tired-ness. Sitting on the floor, laughing about the skits and how our feet hurt, I've already learned more about my MSA sisters in one day than I did all year long. Talking about why she started wearing hijab, or our vision for the Fast-A-Thon, our bond as organizers somehow causes us to drop our guard and talk about real issues.
One thing for sure, high school kids are very high-energy MSAers who are up for anything. While role-playing might cause college MSAers to roll their eyes, high school MSAers jump for joy and give it their all. Lets hope I make it through the weekend!
This weekend my MSA at UMD is hosting the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST). As MIST is part of the MSA National family, I've heard alot about the tournament and worked closely with Shazia, the founder. But this is the first time I've had the opportunity to help first-hand with this amazing MSA project.
Like most MSA events, MSAers bond over their mutual excited and tired-ness. Sitting on the floor, laughing about the skits and how our feet hurt, I've already learned more about my MSA sisters in one day than I did all year long. Talking about why she started wearing hijab, or our vision for the Fast-A-Thon, our bond as organizers somehow causes us to drop our guard and talk about real issues.
One thing for sure, high school kids are very high-energy MSAers who are up for anything. While role-playing might cause college MSAers to roll their eyes, high school MSAers jump for joy and give it their all. Lets hope I make it through the weekend!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Winter Break
One of my closest friends, Dania (former VP USA of MSA National) asked me if I fixed my thumb drive. After telling her the entire, dramatic story of how it broke and by some miracle my sister-in-law's cousin was able to get the data off of it, she looked at me and said, "Do you know how it broke? I read it on your blog; that's how I'm keeping up with your life."
We immediately made plans.
We immediately made plans.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Remembering to Smile
Today was one of those days; those days where you wonder if its time to go to bed because you know that after tossing and turning for a few hours it'll be a new day, a new chance to make a difference and most importantly, you'll have a clean slate.
Boom. Boom. Boom. One, two, three. And then at the end of the day punch number four.
Sometimes its like I'm skating in 60 degree weather; all around me the icicles are beginning to drip and my rink is slowly reverting to a pond while the piranhas are waking up.
But whenever I find myself standing on active tectonic plates, all I can do is pray.
Its quite a hard lesson to learn, especially for an activist. You believe you can change the world; you can help society and make the world a better place. You can stay up late nights, answer every question, make plans, begin implementation - but at the end of the day you don't have control. At the end of the day I am limited; only one being is unlimited. So all we can do is our best - and pray.
For me I find comfort in the amazing MSA volunteers. Volunteers like a local MSA sister who balances her pre-med classes with her numerous MSA leadership roles or the MSA National Information Technology Task Force that gets its dream of redoing the website and is working on numerous other projects. Or the MSA National Media and Communications Task Force members who work hard to bring us all news of the amazing things happening in MSA land.
Or the MSA Alumni, who calls her friend to say, "Don't forget what you used to have on your voicemail - Remember to smile!"
:-D
Boom. Boom. Boom. One, two, three. And then at the end of the day punch number four.
Sometimes its like I'm skating in 60 degree weather; all around me the icicles are beginning to drip and my rink is slowly reverting to a pond while the piranhas are waking up.
But whenever I find myself standing on active tectonic plates, all I can do is pray.
Its quite a hard lesson to learn, especially for an activist. You believe you can change the world; you can help society and make the world a better place. You can stay up late nights, answer every question, make plans, begin implementation - but at the end of the day you don't have control. At the end of the day I am limited; only one being is unlimited. So all we can do is our best - and pray.
For me I find comfort in the amazing MSA volunteers. Volunteers like a local MSA sister who balances her pre-med classes with her numerous MSA leadership roles or the MSA National Information Technology Task Force that gets its dream of redoing the website and is working on numerous other projects. Or the MSA National Media and Communications Task Force members who work hard to bring us all news of the amazing things happening in MSA land.
Or the MSA Alumni, who calls her friend to say, "Don't forget what you used to have on your voicemail - Remember to smile!"
:-D
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Flash Drive Users Beware
Today I spent the day on my phone, in stores and online trying to fix my MSA / MBA thumb drive. Like many people, I keep my life on a small piece of metal smaller than my index finger. From MSA documents, to my notes from class and my personal reflections; everything from the past three years. Alhamduillah, I had backed it up two months ago, but a lot as happened since November.
According to Best Buy: $400-$500 to recover the memory.
Lets hope the next person I ask has a better idea :)
According to Best Buy: $400-$500 to recover the memory.
Lets hope the next person I ask has a better idea :)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
RIS
Standing at the MSA National booth at RIS, an old friend and former MSA National officer Sr. Fadwa softly touched my elbow and introduced me to a brother from CAIR-Can.
As I spoke to the brother about organizational messages and his perspective on how to best articulate our message to the larger community, I noticed another volunteer intently listening to our conversation.
As I introduced myself to Br. Ghaleb from the Concordia MSA, he began to tell me his MSA story. We all have them; stories about how we came to be at the school we're at, how we love or don't love our MSA, and stories about our experiences that make us who we are today. Like Congressman Ellison says, we as Muslims need to tell our story. This is one of my favorite parts of my job - understanding other people's stories and learning what I can do to make their campus experience even better.
Br. Ghaleb left his family overseas and first came to Minnesota. When he landed at the airport, MSA members picked him up, helped him get settled, and became his home away from home as for the first time he celebrated Ramadan and Eid away from his family. My eyes nearly teared up as he described this story and told me how his mother received a translation of the Qur’an in 1975 from MSA National, when the organization established one of if not the first Muslim printing presses in America. It is that passion and love for MSA that he carries with him today at Concordia.
As I left RIS, I said a small prayer for Br. Ghaleb and his family; his story was a bigger gift than he may ever know.
As I spoke to the brother about organizational messages and his perspective on how to best articulate our message to the larger community, I noticed another volunteer intently listening to our conversation.
As I introduced myself to Br. Ghaleb from the Concordia MSA, he began to tell me his MSA story. We all have them; stories about how we came to be at the school we're at, how we love or don't love our MSA, and stories about our experiences that make us who we are today. Like Congressman Ellison says, we as Muslims need to tell our story. This is one of my favorite parts of my job - understanding other people's stories and learning what I can do to make their campus experience even better.
Br. Ghaleb left his family overseas and first came to Minnesota. When he landed at the airport, MSA members picked him up, helped him get settled, and became his home away from home as for the first time he celebrated Ramadan and Eid away from his family. My eyes nearly teared up as he described this story and told me how his mother received a translation of the Qur’an in 1975 from MSA National, when the organization established one of if not the first Muslim printing presses in America. It is that passion and love for MSA that he carries with him today at Concordia.
As I left RIS, I said a small prayer for Br. Ghaleb and his family; his story was a bigger gift than he may ever know.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Coming home from Can eh dia
I'm home!
I never thought I'd be so happy to see my family room couch. My 1.5 hour flight home turned into a 24 hour "adventure" complete with a canceled flight, three hours of waiting in line, stressing with trying to get to the airport and wishing I wasn't alone.
Alhamdulillah my MSA National sisters and the sisters I met at the RIS convention welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like one of their own.
Ordering pizza at 11pm and sitting around laughing with these amazing sisters, I began to miss home even more. That night my own crew of girls were meeting for dinner. For the first time in a long time everyone was in town and hanging out together - everyone except for me. Laughing with the Ottawa girls I felt so at home and so distant at the same time.
Arriving at Dulles and rushing home, I threw down my luggage and within an hour was surrounded by my girls. After a few very much deserved stern words we sat around laughing, remembering the time we were stranded in Tulsa, also due to "mechanical error" and planning our next trip. But we're definitely not going to Canada (at least not for a while).
I never thought I'd be so happy to see my family room couch. My 1.5 hour flight home turned into a 24 hour "adventure" complete with a canceled flight, three hours of waiting in line, stressing with trying to get to the airport and wishing I wasn't alone.
Alhamdulillah my MSA National sisters and the sisters I met at the RIS convention welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like one of their own.
Ordering pizza at 11pm and sitting around laughing with these amazing sisters, I began to miss home even more. That night my own crew of girls were meeting for dinner. For the first time in a long time everyone was in town and hanging out together - everyone except for me. Laughing with the Ottawa girls I felt so at home and so distant at the same time.
Arriving at Dulles and rushing home, I threw down my luggage and within an hour was surrounded by my girls. After a few very much deserved stern words we sat around laughing, remembering the time we were stranded in Tulsa, also due to "mechanical error" and planning our next trip. But we're definitely not going to Canada (at least not for a while).
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