By mariyaskhan
When I wrote my first blog post, I really had to give myself a hard look at who I was. Five weeks into my program, I was beginning to learn more about what made me uniquely American, Muslim, Pakistani, and Indian and how I fit in the world at large. And now, after a few months, I feel like I'm a stronger person in so many ways. I'm still pretty confident about all the different bits that make up who I am.
Interestingly, a couple of my English classes involved reading texts with references and stories that only people with strong Christian backgrounds would understand. I'm not going to lie - I did feel a little out of place every time I asked for an explanation or heard from a professor that I was at a disadvantage because I wasn't Christian. But instead of letting those kinds of things really bother me, I engrossed myself in those stories and loved analyzing things from a different perspective. I've always enjoyed looking at things in unconventional points of view.
Part of my program includes writing a giant research paper on a topic relating to Europe and its relationship to the world before the 1800s. When it came time to choose a topic, I knew that I was interested in exploring something to do with the Islamic World and Muslims during that time. I didn't exactly know what to pick, until I started exploring travel narratives. I sat through lectures going through Eurocentric ideas of the "Other" (a concept that I've always been interested in), and remembered an account of Viking customs from a Muslim travel writer. It got me thinking: How did Muslims view Christians? Are there Muslim travel narratives that have the same kind of Othering language as the Christian travel narratives? I finally decided to focus my research paper about two Muslim travel narratives from the 10th and 12th centuries. I think my Muslim faith and background gave me the unique perspective to come up with a topic like that, and I'm glad that I'm working on something that relates to my identity.
I'd also classify myself as a pretty introverted person. I'm pretty quiet and off to myself unless I'm surrounded by friends I'm really comfortable with. I've gotten pretty close to all the people in my program, and I love how we're such a tight-knit community. I feel less introverted and shy in general, which really lets me try new things and take some chances. I also love travelling and consider myself a city-gal, and I'm more confident in going off on my own and quickly figuring things out. Heck, I went to Greece alone for a few days, had a bunch of crazy problems that involved me staying in an airport for 12 hours and standing out in London at 2am waiting for a bus, and somehow managed to survive and get back to Oxford!
It's so weird, though, to think that I'll be back in America. It's going to be a little uncomfortable being completely surrounded by American accents all the time and using green dollar bills again. Every time I heard an American accent in the UK, I was surprised to hear it, but I didn't really miss it. And I don't miss all of the super greasy and fatty foods I can easily consume in America. But I'll miss doing things around Oxford by myself and with friends. I'll miss going out to pubs with friends or having movie nights with the people in my program. I'll miss sitting in a cafe with a pot of tea and desserts and working on my readings. All of my experiences in the UK will definitely make me more adventurous when I return, and I can't wait to see how my senior year at GW will be. I'll definitely be more into British culture than I already was before this trip. That's right - I'll drink more tea and try to make more British foods and desserts! We'll see how it all turns out 🙂