Reflection Journal

Before starting the second term, I looked at my schedule and noticed that I am going to take UNIV 190 as an International Learning Community course.  At first, I was very reluctant about it; I did not have a good experience with the other learning community class I took last semester.  But then, as I read more about it, I became extremely interested since I can relate to what the class is about to a certain level as I am the granddaughter of Palestinian refugees.

When I went to the first class, I knew that this class is going to be extremely interesting.  It surely is.  The way the material is presented to us was an eye opener; when we played the refugee card game, I understood more about a refugee’s journey despite all the funny comments we made during the game.  The fact still remains that I am learning some of my past, and other peoples’ lives.  By doing so, it is widening my scope to respect refugees.

As for the service experience, I still have not met my family and I am very excited to meet them.  But on the other hand, I can expect myself to work as hard as I can to help my family live a better life.  In addition to that, my family is also going to teach me the Iraqi customs and traditions, and I really cannot wait!  As a result, I would love to learn more about the Iraqi culture and also get to eat their food too! Along with the exchange of my culture and beliefs, I will become more aware of what is going on with refugees nowadays and consequently become more rounded and then, I will be able to use my major as a tool to help refugees (mainly children) express their feelings through art: through drama, drawing, music playing …etc…

I am going to use this opportunity as a way to weave Theatre Arts into these children’s’ lives and as a result, they would just let out all their emotions intead of keeping it in.  We cannot deny the fact that being a refugee in a new country is difficult and very stressful both psychologically and physically.  By using the arts as a catalyst, it will help me get to know the children as well as allowing them to express what is going on inside their minds on a piece of paper, or whatever method of art I use.

By the end of this semester, I would learn more about the different refugees living in America and I would also experience the lives of Iraqi refugees.  I really cannot wait to start my journey to help people as well as to help myself.