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For many people, a day full of academic lecture should be very boring , but for us this day was a very exciting day . You can`t imagine how happy we were during the class time listening to Dr-Lindsay Hoffman talking about “Technology and engaging people in politics” and you get excited when you know the story of the beginning of networking with a packet switching from source to destination.
Also you can’t help but to focus during the lecture of “ Persuasion and negotiation , theory and practice “ . I couldn`t imagine myself focus in every word that Dr. Dana Young said during the class as she forced everyone-by her unique style in teaching- to concentrate and remain conscious .

Also Dr-Alan Fox kept us captivated by his ideal style in teaching “Pluralism and tolerance “  and Dr. Jennifer Lambe with her lecture “Freedom of expression  and conflict in the media.“
And then we come to the most interesting part of the day when your mates present their own countries to others and that was a great fun.

–Raafat

A View from Eisenhower’s Gettysburg House

Today certainly wasn’t a normal day for any of us as we had the chance to see a different culture in the United States as well as learning about one of the most influential presidents of the USA. The funny part about today that most of us were expecting rain and as a result we bought Umbrellas; however it didn’t rain and the weather was warm for most of the time.

To be honest, I didn’t know about Eisenhower until today but as we went through the tour I started to realize that this man has done pretty incredible things for the United States and world; this has encouraged me to research and read more about him to get a full understanding of this unique person.

Moreover, great decisions made by Eisenhower were made after or due to the relaxing atmosphere that he created for himself at his home at Gettysburg. This proves the theory of “you need to spend some time to relax and think fresh about important decisions which will lead to less stress” and, I personally love to do this as it is a very effective and efficient way to think more clearly and get rid of stress.

Also, it is incredible about what humans can still do without technology and the Amish county is a classic example of this as I really enjoyed eating the moon pie.

On a less serious note, we need to have party with the all peer mentors and rest of the staff. Alicia and Alex are great dancers, and Shalu has nice voice so their talents need to be utilized.

-Ahmed

Today we went to the lake; it was such a pretty place. The UD staff is always helpful they were waiting for us at the commons since 11:00 am. They drove us to the lake where we spent 2 hours. We took a long walk around the lake. The weather today was amazing and I think we took more than 100 pictures. My camera already hates me. This is just camera-abuse. I have been here for 2 days only and I already took 620 pictures. Not to mention the selfies !
Yesterday we learned how to “squinch” while taking a picture. It’s a trick for photography that you will only get to learn here in the UD program. It was a very funny fact for me that our Communication professor Dr.Carolyn Bartoo taught us about twitter and selfies tricks. It’s even funnier that those tricks really upgraded my pictures. Professor Bartoo … I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ICECREAM <3

Today we’ll have a group dinner at 8 pm. I’m really looking forward for my first “Iftar” here in Delaware. I thought Ramadan will be hard here away from my family but till now I really feel like I’m home. The UD staff and the other MEPI’S all have this unique spirit. Most of us share the same interests and ambitions. I do believe that my 2014 Ramdan is going to be the best one I have in my life.

On another note, I want to thank all the UD staff for their help and support. You guys ease the pressure of staying away from our families for this long period because yes, we regard you as our second family. I’m actually thinking of kidnapping all the UD staff and taking it back home with me because leaving them at the end of the 6 weeks is going to be too hard. We love you guys, Lots of red hearts with glitter on them.

–Bassant

On Saturday, June 28^th, and as part of our journey into bettering ourselves and our communities, we partook in some very interesting team building activities. I personally can’t say I’ve learned much from them. In fact, to some extent, I thought they were quite frivolous. However, they did help us get more familiar and comfortable with each other, and they were a lot of fun!

What I really want to talk about here is the incident that transpired on the night of June 26. When an ignorant and – dare I say – extremely intoxicated Caucasian man blurted out some very insensitive, ethnically-discriminatory slurs at the MEPI group as we walked past a bar on Main Street. I can fairly say that we, as Arab students from the Middle East, were all quite uncomfortable during the course of this occurrence. Some may mask the truth and say that it was fine, but we all know that isn’t true. Anyway. What I wanted to say about this whole thing is that I am actually quite grateful and appreciative that I was put through it; to know what it feels like to be a resented minority. For me, this was a crucial experience that I think I had to have as an Arab, because going through that actually allowed me to have a better understanding of discrimination against minorities(the concerned minority in specific). But most importantly, it allowed me to reach to the realization that no country – or community for that matter – is or will ever be perfect. We all know that that one imbecile does not and will never adhere to American values, and we all know that he will – without a question – never represent the American people. In fact, the only negative aspect of this that I can think of, is the disappointment that I had five minutes later. I see it happen in movies, documentaries, on YouTube, on TV. My mind has subconsciously embedded this occurrence in the back of my media center. This happens. This actually happens.

We’re here to change that.

-Hameed Al Saeed

Social Media Training with Dr. Carolyn Bartoo

Variety is the spice of life; this can describe better our life changing experience in the MEPI program.  It feels so awesome to be a member of the UD MEPI family.  We are having the opportunity to get  know new people and get exposure to new cultures as well besides being able to express ourselves within team groups.  I am so proud to be a UD who is ready to give all what he has got  and work to the bitter end  in order to  be an effective leader.  Furthermore, the UD family is  just an outstanding community including the spectacular staff  who  are  working so hard to  provide us with the  best conditions and make sure that our stay will be such an unforgettable  experience  and as we may know that it feels so good to have somebody  cares about you  and this is what they are doing actually.  One more thing is  that we are  just thankful  for the wonderful organization they served in terms of the schedule and the syllabus.  I am sure that we are going to learn more about punctuality and organization which should be necessary qualities in a good leader .

Today’s classes were very beneficial, especially after the good start with Dr. Tracey who served as a very relaxing activity to make us forget about the negative ideas and keep us going no matter what happens.  I like the way she makes the thing clear and the tools that she uses to encourage us, she is always trying to get the real of us. The next class was with Dr. Dan Bottomley who made everything clear about the American constitutions and gives us the opportunity to express ourselves by asking for our opinions.   I can say that the way he lectures is just terrific. Moving to Dr. Carolyn Bartoo, the Red bull, she made us aware about  social media and how we can use them as leaders to make our missions effective.  The selfie session was great and so much fun.  Thank you all.

Finally I hope that  we are going to be  the best and we are going to work hard  to make the 2014 Blue Hen MEPIs  the most spectacular ever.  Thank you all and I love you.

–Mansour