What makes you a Difference Maker?

In Arabic, we have a term for a storyteller who has the power to captivate audiences and provide perspectives through story: a hakawati. I think what makes me a Difference Maker is because I’ve spent these last four years educating myself and others on how to properly tell our stories, to be the hakawati of our own narrative, which in the world we live in, can be such a powerful tool. As a writer and poet, I am constantly looking to highlight the stories and experiences of people who may not otherwise be able to share them to the world, while also working with them to feel confident enough to write their own stories. I had the chance to lead our creative writing club, Writing Center After Dark, and also be a consultant at the Writing Center. Both spaces provided me the opportunity to work with students on our campus to learn to feel confident in their voices and identities and work towards sharing them through mediums such as poetry and short stories. I believe when we read each other’s stories and hear each other’s words, especially at the stage we are at as students, we learn from each other’s truths and perspectives, giving us a more diverse outlook on the world. For me, the biggest difference I can only hope to make is to inspire someone to share their story.

Tell us about your leadership experience.

I have been lucky enough to work at the Writing Center as a writing consultant, where every day, I get to help my peers find their voices and confidence in writing, which can change a person’s outlook on learning entirely. For two years I have been a member of Writing Center After Dark, and this past year, the head co-leader. Writing Center After Dark has been such an important campus space for me to help organize because the club is the only space writers on campus have to come and learn to be better writers together. I have the lucky job of getting to brainstorm and plan the activities and writing exercises that we will learn from. During the pandemic, organizing writers to virtually come together and write was a difficult task, but I made sure our organization was a space writers could use to push themselves to write when they did not feel motivated to. For the last four years, I have been a tutor and peer mentor for multiple opportunities. For three years, I was a K-12 tutor at a college preparatory academy. I not only taught students of all grades a range of subjects, but I had the chance to also teach ESL to immigrants from the Middle East. My experience as an ESL tutor also extended to Zaman International, where I taught immigrant women in poverty how to confidently interact with their community. Working with these strong women was also the experience that taught me the importance of learning to confidently share out stories: I have now seen firsthand the obstacles that can impede an individual from reaching their goal when they cannot properly communicate with others. The experience of teaching young students and women a range of subjects inspired me to work more with others to find their voices. For a year, I worked with a branch of the Girl Scouts of America as an activities coordinator and assistance. My goal was to increase the STEM and ELA activities of the girls so they could get a more well-rounded view of different subjects and interests. My achievements as an English major also allowed me to become a peer mentor for the Introduction to English Studies course in Winter 2020.

What is your dream career or goal?

I am really excited for the future because each day I get just a bit closer to my dream. My dream career is to become a writing professor. I hope to complete a Ph.D. in English so that I can continue to help students find their confidence and voice through writing. The professors at UM-Dearborn not only taught me the importance of writing my own narrative, but also how to be a confident and strong writer, and I hope to do the same for the next generation of writers. My other life goal is to continue to write and publish my work, especially my poetry so that one day I can compile and publish a book of own poetry.

What is your most defining moment?

UM-Dearborn provided me the opportunity to create many moments that have helped shaped my character and leadership skills. However, when I think of my most defining moment that has helped pave the way to the person I am today, it is getting to learn from other writers through spaces such as Writing Center After Dark (WCAD), the Writing Center, and my English courses on how to be a better writer. The difficulty of pinpointing one moment that truly defined the writer I am is because each space allowed me to learn from my peers about the writing process and different writing mediums. I used to be an under-confident writer who did not believe her words were worth sharing. But during WCAD meetings and poetry readings on campus, I was inspired by my peers and professors who participated as they so confidently read their poetry and stories, despite their own nerves. Getting their feedback on my work and just having an overall writing community to share my love of writing has helped shape me into a stronger writer who is unafraid to write and share her own narrative with the world.