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.

As the school year is winding down I can say that I have grown so  much while here at Ohio State in several ways. Most importantly I have grown as a person. College is an excellent arena for self-exploration. As cliché as it may seem, college is truly a great place to find yourself. You can reinvent yourself and be whomever you want. Almost like a fresh start. Being here at Ohio State has also allowed me to re-realize why I want to study Arabic. All of the events I went to this year made me realize why I love Arabic and Arabic culture so much. There are so many social, cultural, and academic opportunities available that make it easy to discover things about yourself. By doing this, I was able to enhance my knowledge of different aspects of the world. College also provided me with an atmosphere for growth in terms of responsibility. Having to take care of myself for the first time instilled a sense of responsibility. I had to figure out how to pay for school almost entirely by myself. I finally had real responsibilities that would affect my life greatly if I didn’t do them. I haven’t completely figured it out, but I think I am making some good progress.  Of course this, at times, is challenging, however it will truly be rewarding when I am finished school and can say I did it.

Looking back at the year there are definitely some improvements I want to make for next year. The first improvement is to lower my procrastination levels. This year I would wait until last minute to do a lot of my assignments. While my work always gets done, I think it is a bad habit that I need  to kick before my classes become more and more difficult. My next improvement is more personal. Next year I would like to see myself living a healthier lifestyle. This includes eating better food and going to the gym more often. I think that if I do this I will perform better in school since I should have more energy and not be tired all of the time.

After experiencing my first year in college I have realized that the time goes so fast and that I really need to enjoy it while I can. With that being said, I can’t wait to see what my second year at Ohio State brings to my life.