Freshman Orientation LC04

I used to live in a small town. But now, I live in a big city. My dog used to wake me up every morning. But now, my phone does this job instead. I used to walk to school with my friends and my dog every day. But now, I take the train with the strangers to school every day. I used to hear the song that the birds are singing when I walk to school. But now, I only can hear the terrible noise that came from rubbing of the trains’ wheels and the track. I used to see the trees on the side of the road. But now, I only can see the tall buildings and crowd of people. I used to run up to mountain, to Champaign, to stream, to river, to lake or everywhere I want to go after school. But now, I only can go to certain places. I used to talk to my friends under a tree in evening, and fireflies are flying around us. But now, I talk to my friends through the social media every day, and only the white light from the lamp that is next to me. Is this the life that I and everyone want in big city? Am I getting what I want? Or, I am away from it. I don’t know.

Play Script: “Don’t judge the whole group of people by the actions of few individuals”

* Step 1: Theme: “Don’t judge the whole group of people by the actions of few individuals.”

* Step 2: Synopsis: On December 31st, 2013 around 11:50 p.m. a bearded guy dressed in all white carrying a briefcase walks toward the crowd. Everyone was having a great time of their life and suddenly a big change of plans. On the following day, they have come to know what really took place. But, many wonder why that happens and others are wondering why they are being judged based on a person’s action.

* Step 3: Setting 1: Times Square, cold, brisk night on new years eve, 15 seconds before the ball drops. Groups of people counting down with joy and carefree feelings and thoughts. One man in the corner, sweating a cold sweat, trying not to draw attention to himself. He carries a briefcase towards the center of the crowd. He’s sweating bullets and thinking his final thoughts as the countdown gets closer to one. It finally reaches 1. Everyone shouts happy new year as he shouts his last words before the crowd around him becomes engulfed in shrapnel and fire. People panicking and the look of horror among the faces of families watching at home.
Setting 2: One month later, tensions are high, two wealthy business men sitting on a bench for a coffee break. It’s been a cool yet sunny afternoon. Two Muslim girls walk past them. People staring real hard at them. Uneasy feelings begin to arise, causing the two girls to feel uncomfortable.

* Step 4: Character list: (Character Name  Description)
1) Ahmed  5.8″, middle eastern, Muslim, bearded, quiet, gullible, smart, emotionless, Religious.
2) Farah  4.11″, American, Muslim, Hijabi, honest, kind hearted, friendly, long hair, moody, brave, student.
3) Fatema  5.2″, Hijabi, American, Muslim, educated, student, beautiful, caring, courageous.
4) Kabir  5.8″, wealthy businessman, rich, Muslim, assertive, defending, handsome, loyal, honest.
5) Howard  5.7″, American, rich, wealthy businessman, dishonest, rude, racist, judgemental, carefree, patriotic.

* Step 5: The script:
Ten, nine, eight……………thousands of people stand in the crowd, Manhattan streets counting, 15 seconds before the ball drops…………………..

Ahmed (walks through the crowd with his briefcase. His thoughts are running wild, filled with nervousness. His hands are shaking, body sweating, as he places the briefcase on the crowd.)

Ahmed: This is the day I’ve been waiting for all my entire life and I finally get to show how much I care for my leaders.

Ahmed (places the bomb on the floor and proceeds to kneel down. People start counting louder 4…. 3….. 2…. 1….. Happy New Year!!!!!! A blinding white light takes over the crowd. Flames and shrapnel fill the streets.)

The next day, the whole country mourns together in sadness. Tensions are high. Muslims are getting fired from jobs because companies aren’t comfortable with the idea that a Muslim is working for them. They are being discriminated in the streets, and also being attacked verbally and physically. Nobody would have thought 2014 would have started off with thousands of dead bodies lying around in times square. People are watching their TVs in disbelief.

Howard and Kabir are at work.

Howard: “oh my god” I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

Kabir: “Me too”. I feel so sorry for the families that have lost their loved ones.

Howard: Who in their right mind would do this?

Kabir: Howard, whatever happened already occurred. You cannot change it now, lets just hope for peace and love for the families who have lost their loved ones.

Howard: Yaaa….. You are right Kabir. Let’s just go back to work.

Breaking news: The identity of the suspect has been identified as a member of the Al-Qaeda group.

Farah: Why would anyone do such a thing like that Fatima?

Fatima: Well, sometimes people are brainwashed by others and believe so much in their ideologies. They will go to the extreme to prove a point and they will use the name of Islam to support their cause.

Farah: But, Fatima isn’t Islam is a religion that preaches peace, love and harmony among the people? Doesn’t Islam forbid the killing of innocent people?

Fatima: Yes, Farah Islam is a religion of peace and love. You shall not kill anyone because God has made life sacred. As I said, they use the name of Islam to support their actions. Also, they blindly follow the views of their corrupt leaders and all these terrorist acts affect us in our daily lives.

Farah: I can’t believe this, now all we Muslims will be looked down upon just because of this one man.

Fatima: We can’t assume that people can be ignorant.

Fatima and Farah’s mother walk into the room and said “can you guys run to the store for me?” I need you guys to get some groceries. A guy was staring at Farah and Fatima.

Farah: Did you see how that guy looked at us?

Fatima: Don’t worry about it. I am pretty sure it was nothing.
They go to pay for the groceries and the cashier makes a negative comment about their hijab.

Fatima: You are right about people being ignorant.

Fatima and Farah walk out of the store. One month later, Howard and Kabir were at central park, taking a lunch break. Around that time, Farah and Fatima were walking home from school.

Howard: Why don’t they get out of my country already? They have caused enough chaos within our nation. All of them are the same and you can’t never trust any one of them.

Kabir: This country is known as the melting pot. Everyone should have the same rights even though they were not born in this country. You shouldn’t discriminate against them based on their religion.

Howard: Then explain the terrorist attack on Times Square that occurred a month ago, which killed thousands of innocent people.

Kabir: Well, just because of his action doesn’t mean you can hold every other Muslim responsible. So, don’t judge other Muslims based on one person’s action.

This left Fatima and Farah with a big smile, giving them the idea of courage and standing up to others. God does not permit any group to kill innocent people. The blame lies with the terrorists and not the religion they claim to follow. Terroists can arise from any religion or culture, and the actions that they commit do not reflect on the entire group. You and I aren’t much different from one another. We were all born to be treated equally and not to be discriminated against by one another. It’s a simple fact that I happen to be Muslim and because one part of an Islamic group decided to cause heartbreaking tragedy, that doesn’t mean every Muslim is responsible for that action.

“Do you know that I’m going to America next year?” I bragged to my best friend.

“What? No Way! That’s sooooooo cool!” she shouted at the top of her lung.

If I can go back to that day, I wouldn’t bragged about coming to America.

I would’ve enjoy the time I have left with her.

In my imagination, United State seem to be very close to home.

But in reality I am 7,000 miles away from where I was born.

On the first day of school, everyone already knew each other

They’ve all made their own groups.

Who is going accept this new girl that doesn’t even speaks English?

No one.

I can always find some stupid excuses so I can avoid going to school.

After a year of forcing myself to adjust to this new environment,

I finally made my first friend.

It was the best day of my life.

She helped me went through the toughest part of my life.

I truly appreciate everything she did for me and this experience.

Cats are my passion. I feel happy when I see cats and they cheer me up when I am down. I could’ve had a cat when on my 18th birthday but I didn’t because I was leaving for the U.S.

I was overwhelmed because I couldn’t have a cat and I was leaving my family and friends soon. I felt more cheered up when I saw the cat in the grocery store on my way home after my first day of school. I thought I should be more positive about my college life and my new life here. I started to make new friends and I enjoyed spending the time with them. Same thing with the cat. I’ve been trying to get closer to him almost everyday. I think we are friends now because he stops turning his head away and he came to me sometimes! Being friends with the cat is like me getting used to my new life here. Leaving home and studying in a different country it’s tough but I  think I am doing great so far. Plus seeing the cat after school always makes my day.

My best friend in China drew this for me because she knows I love cats.

Everyday when I wake up, my body is sober but my mind is still on pillow.

Repeat same movement and take the same train.

The train like a big trash can, filled with passengers’ negative emotions.

People try to refresh themselves with a coffee but still fall asleep on the back seat.

People try to feed themselves with a bagel but their spirit feels empty, and their body feels broken.

This is New York City in my eye, inanimate and exhausted.

When I get off the train, I went to the outside with the flow.

I want to leave the underground  and avoid the crowds immediately,

Ironically the outside is more crowded.

The coffee shop nearby might have new show window.

The falling leaf heralds the coming of autumn.

But I don’t have time to feel the change,

Because all my life is about repeating and repeating.

When I was in elementary school, I was taught how to play a game called hangman. The rules are rather simple; you guess a letter or a word to save a man’s life. Guessing the wrong letter enough times and the man gets hanged. When we say the wrong words enough times, a fictitious man gets killed. But what if I told you that we’re still playing? What if I told you that every interaction that you had with every human being out there is like a game of hangman. If the man in the game were real, shouldn’t we be more mindful of the way we speak? We so carelessly liter our minds without thinking of how others would feel and forget that we are not dealing with stick figures. Perhaps it might be easier for us to focus on the life of others, because you can avoid questions like, “how many letters do I have left?” or “is anyone even trying to win this game for me”. It is just too scary for us to face. But you have to remember that each one of us only have one sheet of paper for this game, and we have to choose our words carefully to solve the puzzle. And yes, I have letters too; but it is just as rare as “Z”.

Picture of my live.

As I walk on this street

I reminisce the old days when I was a  kid

As I listen to this song

My emotions bring me back to the time that is gone

I will only remember yesterday

But my memory resides in this paper portray

I will only remember today

But my past will never fade away

I have been sitting here for eternity.  What am I doing again?  Right, I have a monologue due in 24 hours that I still haven’t even started.  Maybe I would have if I knew what to write.  What is a monologue anyways?   Why is it important?  Do I really have to preform this tomorrow to my freshmen seminar class?  Why is freshmen seminar a class anyways?  Well I did learn a couple of important things in there.  It taught me the important qualities of leadership.  It also help me get use to the school.  I guess freshmen seminar is a important class too.Well I should probably get started with this.  But, first what time is it?  (Looks at clock)  WHAT!!  Only 5 mins had passed?  Well I tried, guess its time for another break.

Going to college is entering a new pried of my life. Everything around me becomes new to me. Graduating from high school, I and my friends go to different college and begin our new life. I begin saying to myself ”new life means new start and being positive to study and to live in a new environment”. But, it is not easy to have positive manner everyday. I feel so alone that I don’t have friends who I can go with to eat lunch and hang out together. Again, I encourage myself by saying ”everything will be fine tomorrow” to myself. But everything doesn’t change day after a day. Finally, I begin to enjoy this life style ‘ being alone’. During my free period, I take a rest at eighth floor in which there are many mini sofa. During my lunch period, I walk at the streets nearby school, and I explore many good bakeries and restaurants. I say to myself ” This is what my life in college….a totally new experience, it is a good way to study and learn society by walking around city.’

‘

Do you still remember the game “Flappy Bird”? One day, as I walked into the classroom as usual, I saw everyone was on their phone playing a new game, the Flappy Bird. So I downloaded the game and started to play. From score 3 to 30 and 40s, I played the game whenever I am free. Then I decided to score a 214 on the Valentine’s day which I did. When I post my accomplishment on the internet, one of my friends replied me with “You got no life.” I don’t know what to say. However, I am no longer interest in playing Flappy Bird. After a while, a new game called 2048 came to people’s mind. So I started to play 2048, when I got scores of 2048 and even 4096, I lost interest again. We, as individuals, often get interested on something and lost interest after a while. The world we lived in changed so rapidly that sometimes we can’t even have a perfect view of our surrounding. There is always new things come out and attract people’s attentions. Is there a thing that we truly love? Something that we will never lose our interest? What other things is there waiting for us when we walk forward? The journey of our life, there is still a lot for us to discover!