GESC ELECTIVES & EXTRA-CURRICULARS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROCTOR |
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As an environmental proctor (E-Proctor), I work with a student-led organization on campus to make our school more environmentally and sustainably conscious. Throughout the year, we divide ourselves up into to groups to work on various projects that will not only be beneficial for the campus, but are educational as well and teach the student body about sustainability. Thus far, we have set up a composting station on campus, transitioned to reusable bags for the laundry service, and have hosted earth week each year. Furthermore, the E-Proctor program has also joined with the agriculture proctor program and together we work in our greenhouse as well as the agriculture fields. As a young global scholar, the E-Proctor program has taught me to reflect on my own environmental impact and be a voice for change. Since joining the program, I have dedicated myself to being more sustainable and educating myself on both global and local environmental issues.
Below is a picture of the solar fields in Morocco. During my sophomore year, I was able to travel to Morocco for a language and cultural immersion program. However, I also learned of the solar movement growing in Morocco and visited one of the largest solar fields in the world.
UNICEF & LETTERS OF LOVE CLUB |
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Since joining the Arabic language course at Loomis, I have been drawn to working with refugees and learning more about the refugee crisis within the Middle East. Sophomore year, I helped a friend start a UNICEF club at our school and served as vice president. We raised money for a local NGO in our school town named IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services) and helped settle a local Iraqi family that had just moved into the community. During my junior year abroad in Jordan, I furthered my work with refugees through an organization called Letters of Love. The organization consisted of me translating letters from English into Arabic and then delivering those letters to the local children’s refugee camp. As a senior, I have revamped our UNICEF club by including Letters of Love into the organization and I work to educate my school on the refugee crisis. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, my club has not been the most active on campus; however, I have been continuing my work with Letters of Love and still translate letters to send off to children in refugee camps around the US. Working with refugee organizations around the world has been an incredible privilege and has taught me the vital importance of being an informed global citizen.
Below is a picture of me at one of the refugee camps I visited in Jordan. After having delivered our letters to the children, we were able to play games with them and get to know many of the kids.
Below is a picture of me at one of the refugee camps I visited in Jordan. After having delivered our letters to the children, we were able to play games with them and get to know many of the kids.
THE EXPERIMENT: VIRTUAL EXCHANGE |
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This past summer I participated in a virtual exchange program at The Experiment with students from the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the US. Throughout the 8-week program, we broke into four different modules to discuss digital citizenship, leadership and identity, community initiatives, and our own personal narrative. Working in a close group called our neighborhood, we were able to experience, reflect, and analyze experiences in our own cultures as well as the cultures of other and apply those experiences to become a more educated global citizen. Furthermore, through many different webinars and activities, I was able to learn how to be a strong leader and organize events within my community to fight issues that pose a threat to my home or the home of others. For example, in one webinar we had activist Kareem Coyota speak on ways to community organize and even offered us a list of organizations that have opportunities for students to hold events within their own community on behalf of their cause. Throughout this program, not only was I able to learn more about Algeria, Iraq, and Yemen, but I made friends from around the world. Lastly, during the program I was able to find individuals who shared the same passion as me to help the refugee community and together we have been working toward a common goal: safety and security for refugees around the world.