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The World’s Fare Food Festival | Listening Post Assignment
By: Sadaf Ayaz They say there are two ways to get to know a culture: through its arts and food. The World’s Fare Food Festival was the epitome of what it means to integrate and share the best of the world’s cultures with each other. Especially in America. Over 100 vendors came together for the weekend to share food from their country but left leaving and taking so much more. From music, dance, and anecdotes hundreds of people joined the vendors for a journey of exchanged food and culture. A journey of experiencing what it meant to be someone who belonged to a specific country. A walk through the…
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Kemile Jackson: The Pre-health Student Savior
By Sadaf Ayaz The most striking element in Hunter College pre-health advisor, Kemile Jackson’s office, is a piece of paper hung on the back of her desktop monitor. It’s a diagram that attempts to explain success as an iceberg. It’s called The Iceberg Illusion, illustrating that people see very little of what success really consists of. “I want the students to know it isn’t all roses and sunshine,” Jackson said. “People don’t see the dedication, hard work, good habits, disappointments, sacrifice, failure and persistence that are needed for reaching their goals.” Jackson helps almost 1200 students registered in the pre-health office through their undergraduate journey. She also allots time for…
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MTA: 1.757 Billion Steps Short
By Sadaf Ayaz The Metropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) is reportedly at an all-time low with a slow increase in repairs and fares that don’t seem to show their impact. While some New Yorkers are patient with these changes that often hurt their commute, several are starting to get very irritated. The MTA is an integral part of many New Yorkers’ lives. In fact, New York City has a 1.757 billion annual subway ridership according to the MTA–that is the seventh highest ridership in the world. Brittany Jones, a 23-year-old waitress, calls the MTA a blessing and a curse. “Everyday, we complain about the subway’s temperature, its dirtiness, the train and bus…
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The Hunter MSA: A Home, A School, A Family
By SADAF AYAZ Outside Hunter West 617 on Friday, October 6th, volunteers from the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at Hunter College greeted guests with sweets and a smile for the MSA’s featured event of the month, Renowned scholar, Zaid Khan, discussed the story of the treaty between Prophet Muhammad and the tribe of Quraish that allowed Muslims to visit Makkah, Saudi Arabia, to perform an annual pilgrimage in this MSA event called Hidden Victories. Every month, the Hunter MSA holds events open to the public to discuss various topics about the history and practice of Islam. Students from different CUNY schools as well as the families and friends of students…
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East Hills Eid-ul-Adha School District Party
By SADAF AYAZ For the first time, Muslims from the East Hills school district came together at Antun’s by Minar, an event venue in Hicksville, Long Island, on September 23rd to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha. Eid-ul-Adha is an Islamic holiday that commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son. This festival follows the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah called Hajj, which Muslims are required to perform at least once in their lives, provided they are able to do so. The event was organized by Muslim Women of East Hills to celebrate the Muslim community’s success in getting approval for a school district-wide holiday break for both…