This year has been great for me. I have grown a lot both personally and academically. I feel more comfortable in my current life because I have gotten myself into somewhat of a routine that fits what my life goals are. At the beginning of the new year I set a list of goals for myself. I think I have done well so far in accomplishing my goals.
Academically, I have grown a lot. I took my first real terrorism class and I learned a lot of information that can be useful in my career. This semester I took Terror and Terrorism with Jeffery Lewis. This class was very informative to me because it gave me a new perspective on terrorism. I learned that things that we categorize as terrorism may not actually be terrorism. They could be freedom fighters. this is especially the case with the FLN in Algeria when they were under the French. Through this class I was also able to learn about a lot of different “terrorist” organizations. For example, I learned about the Weather Underground. They were a terrorist group in the United States during the 60’s who were very much anti-government. This class gave me a whole new perspective on terrorism and terrorist.
This year I was the Co-President of Arabic Language Club. As Co-President, I did administrative tasks and ensured that the meetings ran smoothly as well as provided material for group discussion. This was a great experience for me because I got to get some great leadership experience. Next year I will be the Cultural Chair and be the lead event planner for our club. In addition to being a co-president, I was just recently promoted to a Student Cook Manager at Traditions at Kennedy. I have only been working at this job for a year and a half and I have already become a manager.