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High School Q&A With Atfal
On April 19th, 2008, we had our Regional Ijtema. I traveled from Seattle all the way to San Jose to attend this event. The day was filled with sports and religious competitions which everybody enjoyed. After Maghrib and Isha prayer, I joined the Atfal in their program. I was on a discussion panel to answer questions that the Atfal might have about high school. I was there to help them understand and get a better idea of what high school might be about...
My brother, Tuseef, was coordinating the event. He had all of us sit in a circle. We then went around the circle introducing ourselves and identifying one special skill or trait that we possess. I introduced myself and said I was humble. The Atfal all did the same and I liked what each one of them said about themselves. Most of the kids were in elementary school and only a couple were in middle school. Some said they were funny, others said they were good at video games. One Atfal surprised me by saying he liked to read. I was happy to hear that because it seems like not many kids like to read anymore. We then opened it up for a Q&A session. The Atfal were allowed to ask me any questions they had about high school and what to expect.
I didn't know what to expect at first because I had never been in this kind of position before. The position where I have all the answers and people are looking to me to give them guidance and answer the questions they are curious about. Some of the questions were kind of humorous like "Are you a bully?" and "What's your favorite video game?" Some of the questions were more serious and mature like "How early does high school start?" and "How much homework do you get every day?" I learned that the Atfal's biggest concerns were the coursework and bullies.
I explained to them that it's only normal that the coursework will increase as the grades get higher. I also told them that as long as they paid attention and were consistent with the homework assignments, that they would be able to succeed in high school. I also told them about all the "bullies" at high school. Frankly speaking, there really aren't any bullies at high school. I told them that as long as you don't bother anybody, nobody's going to bother you. I made sure to tell them that the bullies that they see in TV shows and movies will be nothing like the people you encounter at high school.
The Q&A answer was very beneficial for the Atfal in my opinion. They got an opportunity to ask all the questions which they didn't have a chance to ask before. Some other questions that they asked were about me personally like my interests and plans in the future. I didn't go that much into detail about life after high school like going to university because I wanted to only focus on the high school aspect. After the session, two Atfal were chosen to be given awards for their good behavior. That way, Atfal would be encouraged to display good behavior in every event. I enjoyed speaking to the Atfal about high school because I had also never had an opportunity to describe my high school experience in a way that I got to do so at the Ijtema. I look forward to participating in more events like this either asking questions or answering them.
For more information about Sanat-O-Tijarat (Career Development) projects, please visit www.mkausa.org/sanat-o-tijarat.
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