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Experience #1 - Wearing eye glasses and visiting Dr. Winter
When I was four years old I began wearing eye glasses and used them for seven years until I was eleven years old. Wearing glasses is a major part of my childhood. I have significant memories going to my optometrist Dr. Winter and doing a myriad of reading tests with letters, words, pictures, colors, etc. These visits happened for years and started when I began wearing glasses at four years old. -
Experience #2 - The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
As a young girl in kindergarten or elementary school I recall my mom coming into class and sitting on her lap while she did a reading to the group of one of my favorite books at the time; "The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree." To this day I can recall the bears in the story wondering into the large, spooky tree and walking inside to face various things like a knight in armor and going up and down in the tree to eventually escape. I remember the feeling of joy in this moment. -
Experience #3 - Bedtime Stories
As a little girl I remember my mom would read the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis to me and my sisters as bedtime stories. I loved to listen to the books and remember images of traveling into the wardrobe to the magical world of Narnia. -
Experience #4 - Learning Cursive
In elementary school I have memories of learning how to write in cursive. I have loved to write since I was little and I remember feeling proud of the accomplishment of being able to write in cursive. Over time, I have felt some disappointment in not remembering all the cursive letters properly and I love to work in a school now where I only write in cursive. To have that ability again brings me joy almost 25 years later from when I first learned how to write in cursive. -
Experience #5 - Autographs
As a young girl, I used to write my name over and over again as a means of practicing my autograph. I would fill a piece of lined paper with my autograph, first and last name. I was pretending that one day I would become famous and I wanted to have the perfect signature to give my autograph to my fans. I would write my autograph in cursive. -
Experience #6 - Watership Down
In my 6th grade reading class we were given the novel "Watership Down" by Richard Adams as a unit project reading assignment. I remember noticing how large the books was, that it had hundreds of pages, and it would be a lot of work to read. I remember the feeling of accomplishment as I would get through the chapters and contribute to our class discussions and eventually completing the book. -
Experience #8 - The Diary of Anne Frank
In my seventh grade history class I learned about world war two and the holocaust for the first time. Discovering genocide and empathizing with people who were being persecuted was a traumatizing experience. I recall envisioning and contrasting the day to day experiences Anne Frank lived through; boredom, confinement, and constant lingering fear with the grim reality that she was eventually found and sent to a concentration camp where she died. I vowed to end genocide after that. -
Experience #7 - Journaling
In my seventh grade English class we had an assignment to begin a personal journal. I recall using a Lord of the Rings themed journal and writing in it for months after the assignment ended. This writing process taught me self-introspection and gave me a safe place to open up to myself about how I was feeling and what I was experiencing in life through writing. I had pages of thoughts from each day and enjoyed the process. This has become the first of many successful journaling experiences. -
Experience #9 - 5 Volumes of Computation Notebook Journaling
In 2014 I was gifted a computation notebook and it is my favorite format for journaling. I have filled 5 computation notebooks with various writings including dreams, songs, poems, community project ideas (neighborhood community garden, Water Walk Maryland events, etc.), nonviolent communication training notes, letters of gratitude, positive affirmations, etc. I love the full size pages and the symbolism of getting to "write outside the box." These notebooks are deeply meaningful to me. -
Experience #10 - Reading Holy Qu'ran & Learning Arabic
After reverting to Islam, one of the most challenging and exciting literary experiences I have had is beginning the learning process of how to recite the Holy Qu'ran. It is a dynamic process including learning the Arabic alphabet; symbols, letters, pronunciation, etc. Tajweed is the science of Quranic recitation and involves its own set of rules for proper pronunciation. Although the process is hard and overwhelming at times, the reward of being able to recite the Qu'ran is beyond words.
