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List Organizational Experience within the MSA-UMD (Include
positions,responsibilities, and accomplishments, please be specific, outlining
in detail what you individually did/accomplished):
In
the past year I have led the Ramadan Task Force, and helped plan and carry out
Islam Awareness Week. I helped get sponsors and donations of the following items
for IAW: 50 English Quran Translations were donated to be passed out for
interested students, along with 20 Hijabs/Pins/Bands for the Hijab A Thon. I
also joined the Education committee this year, and am giving my input/help as
much as possible with that. Prior to even transferring to UMD, I volunteered at,
at least 3 Unity and Diversity dinners along with various other MSA
events/activities. If not anything directly in the dinners/events, then at least
by bringing as much people to attend as possible. (For one thing, I always
Encouraged my youth Group to attend all events/lectures that MSA held along with
helping PR to different communities and friends).
List Work/Volunteer Experience (Include positions, responsibilities, and
accomplishments in other organizations on or off campus)
MMYC:
In 2004, I worked with mmyc conference and was a chair person for that year’s
conference.
ICD Youth:
I helped start the MYD youth group of ICD in 2001 and ever since worked on the
Eboard of that youth group handling various roles and responsibilities
(committee head, coordinator, and vice president) .
* Planned
and helped carry out Socials/Qyiams/Picnics/Parties
* Weekly
Halaqas took place along with trips and social events for our Youth Group. We
also had Speaker Night in which it was combined for the whole community and we
brought various speakers and attracted many people to attend.
*
Volunteered at Da’wah Open Houses at ICI and at the Dearborn Masjid in which
many non-muslims attended to learn and ask more about the Faith. I had the role
of putting together the booths and Da’wah Material.
Almaghrib Institute:
US exam
coordinator, US Registration and Finance..
Islamic Relief:
*Tsunami Fundraising Dinner: IR
Sponsored us to plan and organize a tsunami fundraising dinner at our community
a few years back.
*Sami Yusuf
Concert: Sold tickets for the Dearborn Community along with handling
registration at the concert itself..
What are your organizational Strengths? Weaknesses?
Strengths:
-Commitment – If I put my mind in working on a task iam usually really committed
to it.
-Never concerned in gaining a title or being recognized for the work I do,
rather just concerned about the success of the task at hand.
-(Alhamdulilah) Work well with Teams/Partners
-Punctual and take deadlines seriously
-Stick to my Islamic Values while working so I always try to keep my intentions
straight, and not harm anyone in the process of my work.
-Open to other people’s ideas and suggestions
Weaknesses:
-Not really good at delegating tasks on other people. If I don’t see anyone else
interested, I usually take on a lot of the work and end up stressing over it.
(working on this)
-Sometimes stress out when there’s really no need to.
-If not interested in the task, I don’t carry it out with as much dedication as
I would if interested. -Procrastinator – however I always manage to
meet deadlines, but on the verge of losing it when I actually do.
How do you cope and work under pressure? (Please answer in full
thoughts/sentences providing real-life examples/situations)
Its funny
saying this but the only time I actually do work my best is under pressure. Two
Years ago Islamic Relief was looking for a youth group to plan and carry out a
Tsunami Fundraising dinner for the Dearborn area. We had one week and our youth
group (A Friend and I were the head of the committee) were able to carry out an
amazing and successful fundraising dinner in only one week Alhamdulilah. We had
210 people show up and the fundraising that night was successful. (In one week
we had to print out flyers, get sponsors to pay for the food, and plan an
organized dinner, it was the time pressure that pushed us to work that hard and
accomplish what we did.)
How well do you multi task? (Please answer in full thoughts/sentences providing
real-life examples/situations)
Sometimes I
have a problem with prioritizing my list, and end up doing the wrong things
first. However, overall I have been multi tasking all my life. That’s the way to
live. I get bored with only one task at hand and usually enjoy multi-tasking. (I
can’t give one specific example for this because honestly I find myself
multi-tasking everyday)
How do you deal with criticism? (Please answer in full thoughts/sentences
providing real-life examples/situations).
Criticism
doesn’t bother me at all anymore. After dealing with everything I dealt with
before I learned that sometimes you can learn from criticism and sometimes you
should just ignore it. You cant really please anyone and criticism is bound to
happen, however sometimes I take it and sometimes if I feel its really
unreasonable and isn’t coming from a sound source, I know when to ignore it.
Almost after every event that I worked at, we received criticism. Sometimes
directly and other times personally. At first I used to criticize back and not
take it, but for a long time now I learned how to deal with it and actually use
it to better plan the next task/event. Sometimes people just don’t know how to
say things, but if it’s a valuable advice (even if said in a wrong way) and I
feel it might be accurate, ill use it. If not, then ill calmly let the person
think that I took it while deep down I just ignore it and let it slide.
What will your schedule look like in the 2008-2009 school year? How many
hours can you dedicate to the MSA if you are elected? List any external factors
such as parents, school, or work that might inhibit your work.
Since I was planning on Graduating Early (This fall) I was going to have a
packed schedule. Now however I decided to pace myself and enjoy my senior year
and am only taking 12 credits for the next 2 semesters. Half will consist of
internship credit/seminars so iam expecting it to be really light. I am working
part time but that shouldn’t effect the amount of hours I put in to MSA. I can
put in as much hours as needed to MSA, however, Iam also planning on graduating
with a good GPA so if I need to cut back a little from MSA I will. (Not to the
point of not carrying out my responsibilities, but not doing anything extra is
what I mean).
What does MSA mean to you? Why are you getting involved with MSA,
other than the fact that you were nominated?
Growing up and being involved and active in many Islamic groups, I have always
looked up to the MSA and always enjoyed attending their Events/Programs. I am
not only getting involved cause I got nominated, I actually enjoy working with
the MSA, because iam a big supporter of what MSA does and believe in the
importance of having it on campus. I think it’s a good da’wah organization for
not only non Muslims, but Muslims on campus as well. I have been doing MSA type
work all my life and plan on continuing to do that for the rest of my life
inshAllah.
What do you feel the MSA executive board positions you are running for entails,
and why do you feel you are capable of holding such a
position?
I feel like the
MSA executive board position Iam running for entails planning socials and
organizing trips to involve people with community service activities. The
position also entails leadership, friendliness, and creative strategies to help
and carry out socials for the sisters/brothers on campus and off. I believe iam
capable of holding such a position because it is a position I had so much
experience in and enjoy doing as well. I also see the importance of it in every
organization. (Developing Sisterhood/ and bonding relationship with other
members of the organization) It is a strong way in attracting new members and
encouraging more people to get involved)
What are the main reasons you want to be elected as an MSA executive board
member? Include future plans you have in respect to
the position.
Honestly at
first, I did not plan on it simply because I thought I was graduating early and
might not stay for the whole year. However, after getting nominated and deciding
to stay the whole year I decided to run because MSA is the type of work I enjoy
doing most and have been doing similar work all my life. Plus the
accomplishments and ways that MSA carries out its events is something I admire
and want to be part of.
If you lose the elections, what will your course of action be towards the
organization (please specify)?
Win or lose my
attitude and my commitment towards the organization wont change. I don’t only
work under a title; a title only represents the mandatory responsibilities that
should be carried out, however it does not in anyway indicate whether I should
work at all or even the amount of effort put in to the organization or the work.
If you are elected, will your parent(s) be supportive of your work with the
organization?
Yes they will,
I have worked with a lot of different organizations mentioned above and my
parents have always been supportive. Along with MSA volunteering that I have
involved myself in a few times. So if elected, I am 100% sure my parents will be
supportive as well.
What do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of MSA-UMD?
Strengths:
-Organization – every time I hear an event is planned by MSA Iam more encouraged
in attending due to this trait (I know a lot of other people that agree as well)
-Accomplishments - Variety of events/activities planned and carried out ( iam
sure there are a lot more, but iam running out of time…)
Weaknesses:
- Maybe not enough Da’wah work – reaching out the general student body as much.
-The reputation about it being Marriage Student Association ( I don’t find this
to be true about MSA from what I seen, but just having that rep isn’t exactly
the best thing)
Have you fully read & understood the constitution, have you specifically
understood your duties/responsibilities?
Yes I have
How well do you work with others? Give an example of when you led a team and how
you delegated responsibilities and ensure team
cohesiveness.
I work Great
with others. The only time there’s any real conflict is when the people I work
with are not doing their part and hurting the group as a whole. I don’t like
lying or false promises. I would rather have a person tell me I cant do this or
I didn’t do this specific task, than keep promising to get it done and dragging
the whole group down. Other than that Iam an open minded person and don’t try to
enforce my ideas only.
During our
Youth group, there came a time when a lot of people were complaining about a few
things. I came up with an evaluation form that helped solve many of issues.
About delegating responsibilities on to others – Iam working on that. I don’t
like doing all the work, but if I have to, I just end up taking the easy way out
and doing it. However team cohesiveness is important and I always try to ensure
that.
Which Islamic school of thought do you subscribe to, and what is your
viewpoint in regards to other schools of thought?
Shafi3i I
believe. However, Iam currently studying about all the Schools of thoughts, and
don’t really stick to following just one. I follow the ones that I find have
more authentic evidence. I Respect all Viewpoints and never ever should
resentment or had conflict with anyone of any other school of thought.
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