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"I am what I am because of who we all are" -Ghandi.



"Real education consists in drawing the best of yourself" -Mahatma Ghandi.  I started my weekend by deciding to wear the comfiest clothes to Asheville which were basically an old Nike sweatpants that I bought two years ago for my PE class in Saudi, and a Tarpon Springs sweatshirt which I bought from Florida this Christmas break. My decision was because I wanted to satisfy my personal need of comfort. People at the mall won't judge me based on my clothes because they wouldn't care.  Yet the joy the I had out of that choice was worth letting go of my Ugg boots and Zara coat, and I felt very comfortable.  My decision simply shaped my mood of the day, and this is just a small example of how our decisions whether they're big or small can shape the route of where we stand in life. 

Back to my quote, I bought a book called Peace about Ghandi that consisted of several inspirational quotes by him, and I reached this quote that simply reminded me of my host mother and coordinator. Not only are they working efficiently, but also I see them everyday working with a lot of great energy that draws an impressive relationship between them and their students.  I believe that a successful educator is a person who puts everything he/she has into the work, and by that I mean having enough passion to educate and inspire the next generations. 

Finding brilliant ideas to influence a community could be challenging, but today as I visited the STEAM Expo of McDowell County Schools (after I changed my comfy clothes), I witnessed an impressive collection of science projects made by elementary, junior high, and high school students. Their ideas were very bright for their ages, and their excitement upon explaining them was indescribable. I knew that some amazing teachers were behind that, because when you educate a child, you educate a nation. And here I am coming from another nation and learning a lot of things today that I'll surely carry in my memory as a special thing during my exchange year. 

The best part about the expo was having the chance to try a very unusual smoothie that was blended by the energy of a bicycle.  What really caught my tasting buds was the flavor and the new texture. It tasted like blueberries and bananas to me, but it actually had spinach in it hidden with some other ingredients. Now those people were drawing the best of themselves in education. They came up with an idea that's new, and also creative. 

Our choices shape, define, and create us. The start of our days matter, so dress comfortably, but not everywhere. Take the best of every experience even if it was just an expo, because McDowell's was rich with valuable projects. Try new things just like the smoothie that I had and test your tasting buds.  And as for the educators out there, we, as students, appreciate everything that you do for us. We can see you drawing yourself into your work, and I just need you to know that not all students are careless, because we always know and notice all the efforts that you do.  

"I am what I am because of who we all are" -Ghandi. 

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التوأم

كانت الساعة ٣:٥٠ فجراً بالتوقيت الشرقي لأمريكا. صحيت على رسالة من صديقتي تذكرني بموعدي الساعة الرابعة (اي أنه كان بعد عشر دقائق) لمقابلة بعض الطالبات اونلاين من خلال مكالمة سكايب للحديث عن تجربتي في الأمم المتحدة. كان الجو بارداً جداً، و الضباب يغطي الجبال التي عادةً ما أراها من نافذتي. اخذت وقتي و ببطء أعددت كوب القهوة الصباحية، و حتى لا أزعج زميلتي اليابانية في الغرفة، خرجت بهدوء للصالة. بين كوب القهوة السوداء الحار الذي انسكب هنا و هناك، و بين حملي للابتوب و الشاحن و الهاتف، جلست على الكنبة الخضراء الجديدة و فتحت حسابي في سكايب إستعداداً لهذا اللقاء الذي حدث قبل حوالي سنة، و حقاً لم أعلم حينها أنني كنت على وشك مقابلة أحد أكثر الشخصيات تميزاً (و حرفياً و فعلياً) تشابهاً في حياتي.  قابلتهم بالصدفة من خلال ذاك اللقاء. من بين عشرات الطالبات الآتي شاركن في النقاش في تلك المكالمة، كان هناك شيءٌ مختلف لاحظته في هذا التوأم. اتذكر إنبهاري بهم و إعجابي بهذه الشخصية الرائعة التي إنقسمت بين شخصين بالتساوي. دائماً ما نقابل أناسٌ ننبهر من عقولهم و تفكيرهم منذ اللقاء الأول، و لكن هذه كانت أو

Hoping before McDowell's School Board

Not every exchange experience is the same, simply because every student is different, and every place is different too. Comparing an experience to another is a huge mistake, yet looking at each one individually triggers curiosity to those who are not part of it to know more.  Not every day is rainbows and sunshine, but surly not every other day is clouds and rain. One bad day shall never ruin a year long experience, and one good day will create memories that will spring in the happiness of many other days to come.     My day today was one of a kind. A day that shall keep me motivated for a good period of time. It's a day that I can smile at and tell myself that I actually invested my time in the project of my successful ways of living. I'll never be the wise person who advises people with powerful talks.  I'll never be the big boss who's in charge. Instead, or at least for now, I am going to live for the present and do my best in influencing a change in this community.

Change

    Ahmed Al-Shugairi , this man has learned me a lot!  A ton of people had judges him for saying the truth, but don’t you get it?  This man is trying to make a point, a goodpoint in this world.  He is trying to change us, why would any one of us blame him? He is showing us the Islam in an amazing way.        Us, the new generation, there's a lot of distractions that are taking us away from Fasting and Praying etc.  But, he's encouraging us to do a lot of wonderful things, things that can help us and help our community.  We have a great ideas, but no one is listening to us.  Mr. Al-Shugairi is showing us how to be ourselves, but without changing our thoughts.  He has a program that is called ''Khawater'',but in English it's Called ''Thoughts''.      Let's say that he's writing his ''Thoughts'' on a newspaper, no one will respond to him.  This generation is very hard.  If you want to make a huge difference, you'l