This is a picture of my Mock Trial team this year. Mock Trial is a student organization where we receive a case and argue it as attorneys and witnesses. We are a part of the American Mock Trial Association, a nationwide community that hosts these tournaments and provides the cases that we argue. This year, my team qualified for the national semifinal tournament, called ORCS, which took place in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We worked incredibly hard, and our hard work paid off. Although we did not qualify for nationals, we plan to work hard and qualify next year. Mock Trial is my favorite community on campus because we consistently support each other. I met two of my best friends on this team, and I was recently elected to the executive board as the Vice President of Travel. This means that I will be in charge of logistics for the tournaments we attend next year. I would highly encourage anyone who is interested to try out for Mock Trial: joining has been the best decision I have made this year!

 Attending Ohio State football games has been an integral part of my Ohio State experience this past year. These games gave me the opportunity to participate in the OSU culture and make friends who I might have not met otherwise. I met my friend Morgan, on the right in the picture, at an OSU football game. This gave me a common experience to share with the rest of my class and the school. It was the first time that I experienced the overwhelmingly welcoming culture here. Roaring in the stands and cheering “O-H-I-O” with 50,000 of my closest friends was the first time I felt like I was truly a part of the student body at Ohio State.

This is an example of the Islamic style of art we saw in the Aga Khan and the Ismaili Center.

This is the outside of the Aga Khan Museum.

Over the last weekend I went with 28 other International Affairs Scholars to Toronto. We went to many different areas in the city, including three different museums and group bonding activities. We went to the Royal Ontario Museum, which is a fascinating history museum with extensive Egyptian and cultural history exhibits. We also went to the Casa Loma, which is an old mansion that looks like a castle. It is absolutely stunning, and I learned a lot about the history and culture of 1920’s Canada. Additionally, we visited the Aga Khan Art Museum, which contains rare Islamic Art from centuries past. We also went into the attached Ismaili center and had the honor of visiting their prayer space. The entire experience changed my perspective on Canada’s internationalism. I learned that 30% of Toronto’s population was born abroad, and that Canada has promised to take in many new refugees by the end of the year. I visited different neighborhoods of the city: Chinatown, Little Portugal, and Kensington Market, an area full of colorful hole-in-the-wall shops. This trip was eye-opening and made me realize just how globalized the world is.