World Hijab Day and Women's Week!!

IT IS HERE! The time has come! One of the most anticipated events on campus. I am not 100% agree with the message they're trying to impose but there is some message that I strongly agree with. But what I wanted to share on this post is not necessarily about the Womxan Week itself but more about my participation in this week. As you might notice in the picture I entail The World Hijab Day Celebration with this momentum.

I have decided to organize WHD in UWC-USA along with my friend, Mays. I've always wanted to do this since last year but never really have a chance to do it. This year I've gained much more confidence and more support from the people around me which urge me to try to do it despite all the backlash that I might have. I and Mays become a lot closer due to this event as well! It was a very pleasant and challenging time of the year which I am still glad that I did it.

We weren't planning to combine it with The Womxan Week and make it an individual and solo event. However, the time and topics were just kinda matching naturally then I talked to my sister, Anika who organize this whole event and we decided to combine it together. Firstly, I still email faculty or adult on the campus to let them know if I will be organizing an event to celebrate WHD. The response from the email was very supportive, so then I and Mays continue our progress. After a long discussion on how to frame the event, we come up with an idea similar to the one that was done before in UWC Changsu China. For us, we will have a general presentation during the forum as an education part of our event. We inform and present to everyone on campus including staff, students, and employees. After that, on Friday we will invite everyone who is curious or willing to try wearing hijab for a day. This is optional and was not being forced to anyone. After class, we held a meeting for an open discussion and a more in-depth conversation surrounding this issue.

Nervousness, Scared, Challenges, Resilience, and Faith. My feelings throughout this week have been surrounded around those areas. The fear of presenting this controversial (Which should not be because it is just a hijab?!) topic in the United States is real. Before I present, I think so much about how the aftertaste will be, what people's reaction will be, what will people think about me after, and how can I assure them it is not terrorism or any bad interpretation that people usually have. I was afraid about the consequences which shouldn't be because I am just sharing my thoughts, belief, and culture without harming or targetting an individual. Also, the fact that the hijab should be a form of choice that works as a public declaration of your belief is sometimes contradicting from the other spectrum of the story.  Many countries still feel the oppression by their government or family that forced them to use Hijab even by law. And this contradiction of both sides is what I am afraid of. Yes, I am scared of different opinions and discussions about it because I don't have the full confidence to convince them about my ideas. I know they don't have to agree but there's just things that I couldn't explain clearly in English but I know it deeply present which is faith.

After spending most of my time before the event worrying about that, when the actual event happening, it is really not that bad. Of course, disagreement is a challenge and always there in every issue, but the amount of support I got also plenty. There may be not many people wearing the hijab on Friday as I expected, but that's okay too! At first, I was discouraged because not many people wear the hijab and I feel like after I finished the presentation during forum, many people look at me differently. But, in our last session after class on Friday, I realize something:

"What matters is not how you changed people's opinion and how they think of you after. It is how you started to influence and spark the conversation to be present in discussions."

I may not be the perfect presenter, I may not have the perfect answer, I may present something against your belie. But, I represent my culture and belief in front of many people which opens door to further discussion is enough to make me proud and happy. I have achieved my goals even without everyone's opinion on my side. Differences and diversity is there to make this world more interesting, and if everyone has the same typical ideology and thought, It wouldn't be fun <3