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          Ok, so I know the point of this blog entry is to write down my experience up till this point, but I really want to talk about something that has been on my mind since Day 2 of this program.  Before we departed to Delaware, a teamwork exercise was conducted titled: The Marshmallow Challenge. We were required to build the tallest building using spaghetti sticks (My team won but that’s not the point).  After the project we were asked to reflect upon our experience by asking ourselves questions such as: Why did we fail? Or how can we build a higher tower?  My focus was on the spaghetti sticks at the base of the marshmallow tower we built. I felt those were the catalysts to our success.

          Too often, we see leaders of different institutions in the Middle East region at the top of the Pyramid/tower, etc, while those institutions are run by the Spaghetti sticks in the bottom of the Pyramid/tower. But wait, are those just spaghetti sticks? And what makes them more efficient or stronger than other spaghetti sticks? While I was asking myself these questions I realized that I was comparing successful Civic Engagement organizations in the US with the organic ones in the Arab world and particularly in Qatar. I could not reach an answer to my questions yet. Whenever I try to find an answer I end up with more questions.

          The first reflection I came up with at the Marshmallow Challenge is the spaghetti sticks at the bottom are the true leaders of the successful structure.  If the base is solid, the rest should be ok right? Wrong! Our team used a plastic bag to hold our marshmallow tower half way through. Without that plastic bag we would have never made it to the top. So it’s not just the base of an organization that decides if it’s strong enough to continue growing. We might see organizations with strong spaghetti sticks and bad plastic bags that mess things up along the way, right?

          The solution to my problem was addressed in a seminar by Dr. Tracy and Ms. Rachel a week and a half ago. They explained to us a successful leader should be able to show some experience and enthusiasm in tasks he/she assigns to the team members in an organization. In other words, “Leadership is not about assigning people with tasks you are not willing to do by yourself”.

          To conclude, my answer is tentative and will always be subject to future changes. One thing for sure is that we are not here to become just spaghetti sticks. We’re here to become strong spaghetti sticks, flexible plastic bags and finally chewy Marshmallows.

–Shabeb

As I sit this moment in front of my computer thinking about today, I can only hear one sentence repeating itself over and over. “We the people”. Though I had a considerable amount of fun watching a baseball game and a hilarious monkey rodeo show, for the first time in my life, all I can seem to care about is this three words sentence.

The highlight of today’s events for me was our visit to the National Constitution Center, where I got the chance to discover the History of the United States of America.

Inside this great modern edifice resides one of the best museums where the Stories of America are being preserved forever. In addition, I can gladly add that they are doing a great job in accomplishing that fact.

We began first by watching a uniquely styled movie show that presented the history of America throughout time, starting from  the British Colonial Era, going through the decoration of independence, the Civil War and finally arriving to the draft of the Constitution.

After the movie we had a guided tour around the exhibit , where all the  names and the events that made the  America of  today were displayed for the public eye to discover, appreciate and respect.

We then  spent the second half of our time at the Thomas Jefferson Slavery Exhibit, where I had the pleasure to watch a short documentary about slavery and Thomas Jefferson.

This visit had brought so many emotions to my heart, that I don’t  even know from where to start.

During  this tour, all I kept thinking about are the wars on the other side of the globe, especially in my part of the world.  Suddenly everything seems perfect, and coming from  a place where basically everything isn’t, kept me thinking . what makes the difference?

Walking around the different sections and trying to find an answer to my question made me even more frustrated.

All I could see is how well thought everything was for the generations to come to decide what was best for them. Of course it is never an easy fight to make a change on a heavy scale like the government of a country, but looking at the possibility of that was tremendously awakening. At this particular part comes the role of civil society. A society aware of its rights and obligations, acknowledging that the reality is not what it’s supposed to be, but only what it is, and last but not least believing in higher values as the best map towards happiness.

I stopped at each civil right activist and read their stories on how  they abolished many injustices of the world. I saw Thomas Jefferson on Slavery, Martin Luther King and  Rosa parks on Racism and  Jane Addams on women’s rights and equality. I cannot summarize the history  of civil rights in a few names, simply because the list is endless. And suddenly, I have found the answer to my question . “ Because the list is simply endless” . If everyone of us contributed to a cause , making an endless list of contributions we’ll definitely make a difference.

I remember our embassy coordinator, before arriving to the states, saying: “Americans give their time and money to causes they believe in, and you know how important are those two things to them”

As a conclusion, No law, no article and no constitution can make a difference as long as it is ink on paper. It is the people, their sacrifices and their consistent drive to make the world a better place to live in that makes the difference. My hope is that I can deliver this message to my people, so they can finally start looking at the future as their own, and have a word in making it a better place for them.

Where the Constitution was Signed

-TimTim

I do not know where to start. Most of the things I’ve ever done so far are indescribable, and I’m still only halfway on the road.  I  have learned more things in a week than I have learned in months.  Every day is better than the day before.  I have gone back to a sense of learning that I almost los. I will start step by step .

Civic Engagement with Hussein at the Garden for the Community

The Beginning: MY SECOND FAMILY

When I met with other UD MEPIs and the staff for the first time at Georgetown University I said to myself that I will spend 6 weeks with them  and then every person after that go to achieve this dream or goal just like that quick process, but I did not know that those same people will become  my brothers & sisters.   I did not know they will be with me in a life changing experience riding together in this journey and will become my MY SECOND FAMILY everyday I learn new thing from them.   We are like a big happy family.  Professer Tracey as our mom and Rachel acting like our big sister and the staff as our older brothers and sisters who protecting us.  Everyone cares about one another—it is kind of funny but it is true so big love to my second family.

Meeting Senator Chris Coons

As far as education goes, I have attended many motivational lectures ..

They have made ​​me think of another way … new goals -high goals.  We have learned about the use of media to persuade—its goals, advantages and disadvantages. We learned about the American political culture, we have volunteered at sites that are more than wonderful, we met important people like Senator Chris Coons—the highest political position I met in my life.

We made friends in a short period more than what can be described verbally.  I have learned so much about my weaknesses and my strengths.

The present: today

Another beautiful educational day happened today.  First, we had Dr.. Muqtedar Khan giving us a lecture on “Islam and the Challenges of Pluralism and Democracy.”   This is a lecture that  I have not found in my home as a Muslim country.  We learned more about accepting other religions—it was a stimulating lecture, full of ideas and after a lecture on democracy and Islam, we went to the mosque for Friday prayers.  I felt like I was at my mosque in my home country.

… and then we attended a lecture with Jason Mycoff for “Political Action and Voter Mobilization.”  We learned about the main points to win any campaign or race, or any competition what you need to win, what is the most important things you need to run a campaign.  We learned a lot from him.  Everyday we learn new ideas, new strategies.   Blue Hen forever.

–Younis Moussa

Kingswood Community Center

July 10^th marked another remarkable day in our adventure, the adventure we embarked on to fulfill the promise we made on our first day of the MEPI student leaders program, “we’re here to change the world” we shouted but change comes through action not mere words and that action is what we pursued.

The day started with lecture on women’s activism in the U.S. by Dr. Anne Boylan.   We were introduced to the history of women’s activism and the struggles they had to overcome to provide the current generation with the rights they currently entertain. “Never give up” is what may summarize our session as we all came to conclusion that diligence is one of the most important characteristics of a leader.

Next we visited three places, University of Delaware’s Community Garden, the Latin American Community Center, and Kingswood Community Center. We split ourselves into three groups visiting these places simultaneously; we tilled the ground and planted seeds for vegetables which will be donated to the local food bank, we played with children hailing from poverty stricken families and at-risk environments.

This was our second visit to these places and the bonds we created with the people there were greatly strengthened, fuelling our passion for civic engagement, the passion which is behind every positive change that occurs in our world. As a person I believe that direct contact with people is necessary for sharing emotions, emotions such as need and happiness which I really can’t connect with through newspaper articles or videos.  During our visits we had the ideal environment to interact and bond with people whom we will serve as soon as we go back to our countries.

Garden for the Community at University of Delaware

Servant Leadership at Kingswood Community Center

Meeting with the Clinton Global Initiative-U Students

Our day concluded by meeting members from the “Clinton Global Initiative University” who work on projects similar to ours.

They work on providing clean water in poor villages in Tanzania, Providing preschool books for families who don’t have the resources to finance their children preschool education, and media awareness campaigns against junk food. We exchanged ideas and opportunities in a very friendly setting, we focused on challenges that might face us when implementing our projects in our countries, and finally we discussed chances of collaboration while exchanging contacts.

Today we learned that leaders don’t lead just by sitting on a desk or talking all day long, they have to walk down the streets and touch base with the people they serve, today we edged closer to the goal of the program but we’re even closer to transforming our promise to a life goal, soon enough you will hear and see the change we’re going to make, We WILL change the world.

–Mohamed ElMejrab

Concept Wall, Venture Development Center

Today has changed my life. Everything I have learned today made me see things in a more focused and clear manner. I will be sharing with you my perception of everything that has happened for me to say that Wednesday the 9^th of July is going to be a shift in my life.

We mostly spent our day at the Venture Development Center where we attended Entrepreneurship focused sessions. Allow me to describe first the beautiful environment we got the chance to stay in. the venture development center has such a classic yet modern design. It’s very bright and positive. I loved that they have adopted glass instead of white boards. Being there today has given me clarity and peace of mind to think through my course of actions. The place has brought out the best in me. During the sessions, I couldn’t help but think about everything that I have done in the past year and reflect on it. And the revelation was astonishing.

The Rule 

I have been working so hard to pursue my dreams but what I’ve figured out today is that I have been working so hard rather than working smartly. I have been overstressing myself and wasting my energy on tasks I don’t really need just to prove to myself that I can do it. What I learned is that proving to myself is important yet I do it for a certain period of time and then move on. I can’t keep challenging myself in every tiny thing that I do. Rather than doing that, I need to focus and be committed to one task. I majored in Political Science this year along with Law just to prove to myself that I can do it and I did. I had internships throughout the year and pulled it off. I taught private lessons to undergraduate students. I took an extra course outside university on International criminal law and Procedure, was one of the highest scoring students and won a trip to Holland; a trip that I had to turn down because of my participation in MEPI. I don’t regret that at all because MEPI was what I needed. In this program I am having the chance to get all the courses that I would usually be willing to pay money to attend. If I could choose what kind of classes I would attend, they would look exactly like the schedule I receive every night and for that I am thankful to all the MEPI staff for their never-ending effort and dedication! Thank you Rachel, Dr. Tracey, Alicia, Alex, Emmanuel, Dr. Dan, Joel, Lizzy, Nikita, Shalu, Tarika and everyone else who took part in making this program successful. I am grateful for having met you because you have all made a huge impact on our future.

Today during class, several things intrigued me to the degree that I’ve reached clarity; every single piece of my past efforts fell into place. I have learnt that what I would like to be doing is called Social Entrepreneurship which is a business that seeks both personal and social gain. It is as Professor Freeman explained “The process of pursuing opportunity and producing economic and social benefits through the conception, validation and launch of new business models into the marketplace”

Dr. Freeman in the VDC

I want to help others people get a better life but the only way to do that is by leading the way and succeeding. If I’m a failure then I would never be able to impact a soul. Life has taught me that achievers get respect from the public. If people didn’t know me, they wouldn’t be really interested in listening to what I have to say or buy or take part in what I have to offer. However if I “speak the language of the person [I] want to become” then I believe that I will get a higher chance of fulfilling the goals I am after.

I am what I am after. My dreams define my character. Without them I am not alive. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman.

Mira at the VDC

According to Professor Freeman “people with an entrepreneurial mindset tend to notice problems and feel compelled to solve them “. I was glad that I am blessed with an entrepreneurial mindset and the symptoms he discussed, further confirmed me.

After that our first session ended, I was certain of the project that I would like to undertake. During that session my mind has shut the previous project that I had been planning for some time and decided to go through a totally different project that I am passionate about. The reason that I didn’t think of it earlier, even though it had been in front of me the entire time, was because I lacked clarity. I was focusing more on what challenges my country faces rather than where my passion lies and it hit me like lighting.

Moving on to the next part of my day where we got to meet a young achiever the CEO of ACCLAIM Aksel Gungor, the session we shared with him added more clarity to my vision. He had a basic philosophy, it’s something like this: try – fail – try – fail – try – fail, eventually you will reach a stage where all those points would add up and you would learn from all your past failures and make something big happen. Aksel advised us to treat everything like we’re in a lab because this attitude can really help improve the outcome. Personally, that was one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received because we’re here in this world to experiment. Some experiments turn out to be better than others but failure doesn’t give us reasons to give up and stop fighting. Excuses were the reason why a woman didn’t get funding for her project by the investors in Shark Tank. We need to ask ourselves this: are we going to be like her giving excuses to not pushing our projects further? Or are we going to fight until we reach our goal? Now let’s consider the other woman who came up with the towels idea. After losing her house, she could’ve taken the easy road and became bitter and miserable but instead she came up with an amazing idea that was small at that moment, but she drew a plan, stuck to it and eventually made it work. Personally that is a role model. Her commitment inspires me to give the best I can.

Mira and The Egyptian Delegation

“Try so many different things and you will learn a lot:

1-     Try, fail, then try again; you will learn so much along the way.

2-     Follow your effort”

Priceless words. I admire the hope that Aksel has. It inspires me to believe in myself. It teaches me that it’s never too late to be the person you want to be. I admire how he perceives failure as a push forward and a lesson rather than a setback! “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work“ Thomas A. Edison. It’s funny how the brightest amongst us adopt that attitude instead of a give up attitude.

And when I thought that what he said was great, he adds a greater word “effort“.

Everyone tells me to follow my passion but sometimes my passion is not what I can put most effort in. I could relate so much to what Aksel had said about being passionate about music and so on. But passion for music wouldn’t realize his project instead a constant effort to a determined cause would get us to our destination.

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ and whenever the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” Steve Jobs

Today, Wednesday the 9^th of July 2014, has changed my life because today I have clarity. I have a clear vision. It’s not foggy anymore, it’s clear. I will face a lot of obstacles along the way to reaching to my destination but at least a higher vision would lead and enlighten my path. It is no longer about figuring out which courses to take, which internships to undertake, which place to go to, which scholarship to apply for… rather it is about being passionate about every little thing I do, it’s about prioritizing my tasks in a way that maintains balance in my life and in my mind because I’m telling you I am calm but my mind never shuts down. It’s always about the new thought, ide,a the next thing, how to push forward.

I am a fighter, a hard worker and a passionate person: and those are the three components to my recipe of success.

We’re getting exposed to a lot of new things on this program, I ask you to open your minds and embrace the new knowledge. I’m telling you, one word could impact you forever.

I love you all and I wish you a better journey ahead.

One for all and all for one!

Mira Fayad

Living a dream, an opportunity, a once in a life time adventure, couldn’t find a better chance to improve my skills and learn how is it to be active and how to be a good leader. It all started when I got this email that says congratulations that I got accepted in this whole program and I actually had a dream before I submitted to the program that I was in a beautiful place that has to do with universities and I was leaving it with good memories, and this is what is happening right now. I don’t’ know where to begin by telling you about this experience so far. Delaware, one of the most beautiful places I have been to, friendly people and a really beautiful place. Best people I have ever worked with, goodbyes are going to be so hard, I really love those people. Haven’t talked about what I have done yet but, the classes are so amazing, interesting and fun at the same time. Every place we went to is magnificent and we leave some good memories in it. Learning much about USA as much as learning about the other MENA region countries is really fun and it’s good at the same time because we are here not just to give the Americans a background about the MENA region countries but also to build a strong connection and spread peace between the countries in the MENA region. I really loved all the classes but my favorite was Dr.Steven Mortenson.  Every word that came out of his mouth counted and got  inside my head and learned a lot of things. I loved how the staff is putting a lot of effort to secure our safety and take care of us. We are a family, that’s how I see us right now. I see Blue Hens as my second family they’re all my brothers sisters and best friends. I’m going to do my best in this program and I will never .. never .. ever .. forget my Blue Hen family. <3

–Yousef

Georgetown University, MEPI Selfie with my GoPro

Today I felt a change or a shift if you will in how I will be approaching the execution of my goals and plans to make a difference in the world. The last few days we were assigned to read The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun. His chapters are headed by several mantras that we as readers can adapt and evolve from. I’ve chosen to title this post You cannot fake authenticity because when approaching civic engagement projects one must be true to oneself and have the authentic desire to change the lives of others. A quote I have not been able to shake from my head, found in the first few pages goes as follows: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman. I find this to be the perfect quote to engrain into our hearts as it was very applicable to our visit to the civic engagement sites today. My particular group were assigned the Latin American Community Center which held the vision to change the standard of living for the Latino community in the area.

I say vision because it is not enough to simply come up with an idea or a goal to achieve but more effective to visualize the exact outcome you want, the lives you want to transform, how well it coincides with your personal goals, and also the love of the journey it will take to get to the finish line. It took a few people to know what makes them come alive is bringing joy to the Latino community and helping at risk youths find a place to call their own where they can explore their own individualities, develop, grow and be safe. It was a great pleasure to see the simple smiles on these children’s faces as we spent a few hours with them during their summer schedules. It was easy to get attached to them and to want to do anything to make them laugh and feel as light as possible as it made the visit that much more meaningful and special. A child’s fundamental right in this world is to have the right to be just that, a child; free from worry, free from fear, full of hopes, dreams and security more than anything. Today I truly feel even more driven than I ever was before to pursue my own vision, I dream of instigating a change so vast that the rippling effect will only do wonders for my community. After all, as MEPIs that’s what we’re here to do, change the world.

–Oraib

“MEPI Student Leaders program is a one-life experience that will not be repeated, it is an opportunity to

Change your life in details. “

All the MEPIs participants heard this sentence many times either in their home country or at US, and as a participant I wondered how such a program could change my life?! But now I touch the answer every day here at University of Delaware.

Each MEPI Student is involved in many things; the academic classes, civic engagement activities, local visits, free time activities and much more.

For example, the academic classes offer great opportunities for us to have contact with professionals who have unlimited experiences, with leaders who have the passion to change and lead this world. And an Important point each MEPI’s must recognize is the importance of the unique skills that we could gain from each person we meet, the staff the academics and us as young leaders.

Today is Sunday.  July 7, 2014. Though today is our weekend, I spent my day reading an amazing book selected by Dr.Tracy and the staff. The name of the book is THE PROMISE OF A PENCIL By ADAM HOLDEN. And my opinion about this book: it literally can change your way of thinking and your opinions about many points like Leadership, NGOs, your necessities, priorities and more. This book could touch every readers’ soul by the benefits on it. And here’s my list of my favorite chapters though all of the chapters are great:

– GET OUT FROM YOUR COMFORT ZONe

– EVERY PENCIL HOLD A PROMISE

– TOURISTS SEE, TRAVELERS SEEK.

– SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BECOME

– WALK WITH A PURPOSE

– FOCUS ON ONE PERSONE IN EVERY ROOM

– YOU CAN’T FAKE AUTHENTICITY

– FESS UP TO YOUR FAILURES

– LISTEN TO YOUR ECHOES

– IF YOUR DREAMS DO NOT SCARE YOU, THEY ARE NOT BIG ENOUGH

In addition, my advice for every person who wants to lead his community by charity work to read with this book… NOW!

Another thing we did today just before the few minutes of my blog is a table talk with the UD MEPIS to design a T-Shirt to reflect our purpose in the program at University of Delaware. It was a great experience to gather 23 leaders in a table though it was not that easy. Actually, it was so difficult and I think the difficulty came from  the  ability and the potential that every leader  has. Many lessons could be taught from this talk like becoming a good follower as well.   Each leader must get this lesson.

Meeting to Discuss MEPI T-Shirt Design

MEPI SLP is not just a 6 weeks adventure it is a priceless experience, there are a lot of lessons we learn daily. These lessons are our keys to change ourselves and then the world.

Finally, before a week in the weekly ice cream table talk with Dr.Tracy, she asked us to type what we think about our stay so far, and to write down whatever we want without adding our names, and I want to finish my blog with my thoughts: ” Before I came to UD I thought a lot about the program, I was sure everything will be great. Now I am extremely shocked because it is way better than my thoughts in each detail. What a great staff! What a great participants! #Blue_Hens_For_Ever #Dare_To_Be_First

–Mustafa

I’m going to talk about many things not just about yesterday, because there is a lot of things that makes me feel special.
The first thing that really made me happy and inspired is that  everyone on this campus feels like they belong to this place and are proud to be “Blue Hens”, yellow, Blue and Chickens everywhere. It’s really amazing to see people love the place that they live in, and I started to feel belonging to this place and can’t think about the moment that I’ll leave UD.

The second thing that I want to talk about is my amazing fellows. I’m a person who loves to make new relationships and love communicating with new people, and I really feel so happy to know people from countries of the Middle East and North Africa.  They are all amazing people, they help when help is needed and they can do whatever it takes to makes everyone in this group feel comfortable.

The third thing that I’m going to talk about is the gorgeous staff, we really appreciate their patience and the effort they put for us to secure our safety and the time they devote for us to make us feel special. They are very kind people and they became the closest people for us. Yesterday I was talking to Emanuel and I was thinking inside me that how can I leave this person after this period, it’s hard to meet such an amazing people and leave them after just a couple of weeks.

The last thing I want to talk about is that when we at the classroom I feel that I have so many things to say but because my English language is not so good so I keep some of my ideas and thoughts inside me, sometimes I force myself to speak, this is the only way that will improve my English language, I am always trying to be with the staff to speak more and more.

–Obayda

Gettysburg, PA

Multiculturalism; to me this is the best description of the American community. First of all, I want to mention something about my MEPI experience. So far, this is best experience I’ve had in my life. It is so amazing to be here as a part of this amazing life changing adventure with the UD MEPI family. As a part of the UD family, it’s been amazing to have the opportunity to meet all these wonderful people from other Middle Eastern and North African countries, getting to know their traditions, cultural backgrounds and the challenges their countries going through  during this rough time.

There are no words that do the UD staff justice. They’ve been so helpful and cheerful for all of us and made us feel that Delaware is our second home. They reassured us and made us feel safe when a certain incident occured the other day on our way back to the university from dinner.

The lectures so far are very informative and are providing us with the important tools on how to understand our personal strengths, our personality types and their specifics and how to engage them in the right way of becoming a successful leader.

A few days ago in our inspiring trip to Gettysburg,PA, we got the chance to visit the national military park(museum and the visitor center) also some historic sites such as the Eisenhower farm, the place where he would meet some of the countries leaders, also practice some of his beloved hobbies such as golf and skeet shooting.

Another inspiring thing is that on our way back, we passed by the Amish country. Although they’re disconnected from every technology, I found their place to be very interesting and wonderful, their food is very tasty and I think that they are an example of  multicultural society in the US.

Regarding today’s sessions, we were very honored to meet Senator Chris Coons at the Gore Recital Gall, where he talked about the different challenges facing the African countries. He also emphasized two points which attracted my attention: The government officials have to be responsible for the promises they make when they run for elections and be honest with their community.  The other point was that democracy was difficult to embrace  in the US and the country have done many sacrifices to achieve it after the Civil War.

Also we got to meet Dr. Young again.   She thoroughly discussed with us the psychology of persuasion in the previous session and today we talked about the association between persuasion, democracy and elections.  The other key topic was digital technologies and their advantages such as being fast and ubiquitous, playing an important role in the Arab Spring.

Also we learned about American political culture and it’s main five cores: liberty, freedom, democracy, equality, justice from Dr. Jason Mycoff.

Finally, I just wanted to say that I’m very proud to be a member of the UD family and looking to get the best out of this adventure. Thank you everyone.

–Hussein