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I started learning Arabic in 5th grade. What can I say? It is a beautiful language that is very structured, so there is little ambiguity. The benefit is that you can pronounce any word correctly the first time.

Learning this language gave me the capability to move around the city freely. I could communicate with the locals, understand food menus and directions. Even back here in the states, I watch soccer with Arabic commentary to remind me of the beauty of the language.

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I've attended various international schools that had students from over 120 countries. Everyone has a different culture and a different way of communicating. Walking into the cafeteria, you would catch wafts of cuisines from all over the world. Racism didn't exist here. Most people were of similar economic status.

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We have gatherings with other family's weekly. My father also meets with his friends weekly at cafes and such. Since the age of ~12, my father wouldn't allow me to play with the other kids. He made me sit with the adults. It was initially boring, and it still is when they start complaining about politics. However, from their discussions, I learned about workplace politics and conflict resolution, the industry, history, and values. I eventually chimed and and became a part of these discussions. This is one of the best things my father did raising me.

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Growing up, I moved numerous times. I've learned that many relationships are meaningless. Or rather, it's very easy to up and leave, forget, and start anew. Most of my friends were either like me (moving frequently) or were older, so every year friends would move, graduate, or find new jobs. Sometimes, they'd leave in the middle of the year.

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I have a stutter. According to my parents, it started when we moved to Dubai; 2016. I don't like it at all. In speech therapy, they teach us to be accepting of this; this is who we are. This has a strong aura of complacency. Stuttering makes you less effective and less valuable. I've been doing exercises to improve my communication and have improved significantly. Just need a ways to go.

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Most of the countries where I am from suffer from rulers who are oppressive. They crack down on citizens and journalists because they might speak non-positively against the regime or make a payment to a charity or company that is not favored by said regime.

This has raised the importance of privacy and security to me. Most people are aware that what they do online not private, however most people do nothing about it. I've gotten friends and family to start using Signal, Protonmail, and Bitwarden. Now we can send memes in private.

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Since I grew up in various cultures, instead of having one culture per se, my "culture" is a conglomerate of all the cultures that I have lived in and experienced. This makes it much easier to build relationships as there are many possible things to connect to with others. We can relate on dune-bashing, eating spicy Indian food, drinking Khaleeji coffee, or talking about soccer.

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Much of my family is currently in Lebanon. And most of them live in the same city. Grandma's house was the hub for all the aunt's, uncles, cousins, etc. Not only does this make it easier to raise children, but the family is really tight and everyone helps each other out. Because of this, I could spend the entire summer there and build a strong bond with my extended family.

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Watch video here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0c3I97oPIHutqmm-IjzgtQvkA

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Xiaoyuan Lu: One thing that stood out was what we had in common; an interest in privacy. I like privacy and using private communication apps such as Signal due to the abuse of power in my home countries. She is aware that her government monitors all of WeChat, the popular Chinese communication app. She learned Chinese calligraphy at a young age (like 4 years old) which was really cool.

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Watch here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/013R3DgYG7KbCndIoO0iPjbqA

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I grew up going to Lebanon every summer. My favorite place was my grandma's house in the mountains. She gave us free reign of the place. My cousin and I always started by sweeping the entire courtyard of fallen leaves and pines. Then we'd throw water on the floor and squeegee it to make it spic and span. We'd then pluck lemons from the orchard and eat them whole. Our tongues burned after the first two XD. Sometimes, back in downtown, we'd throw said lemons from the 8th floor apartment onto passerby and cars. We were never repremanded unless a neighbor found out and complained to our grandma.

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e4ZMet_CGKB-nluHd-Tx7c1g

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/044o9aykH_arMW97vnd9ad4kQ

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/05d0_rf6PN-_PDTObTW0Ne79g

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/00bxIVvdWI2iA5eMlNfS8gKVg

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0410aHbAAWWBj_nnECGMgC-xw

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I grew up in multiple countries around the world and attended multiple international schools with students from over 120 countries. We had a tremendous amount of exposure to different cultures and languages at a young age. We would play wall ball, soccer, basketball together. A team could consist players with no two players sharing a similar cultural background. There was no division of teams between people of similar ethnic or cultural backgrounds.  I can say with full confidence that due this type of childhood, we did not experience racism or white supremacy.

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Growing up, I would hang around my grandmother a lot. She would teach me how to cook and clean. I particularly remember that my cousin and I would throw water on the expansive patio and squeegee it. We would also pull the weeds from the yard and pluck the lemons from the garden. We would take the rug outside and hit it repeatedly with a broom to remove the dust. These are chores that can be considered to be feminine.

When we had family gatherings, the men and women sat in separate living rooms. It was not considered appropriate for them to sit together unless the families were good friends or were of the same family.

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Day 12 Revisit - Culture and Community Expertise

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Day 12 Revisit - Culture and Community Expertise

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I mentioned previously my international upbringing. Being surrounded with friends from so many countries, it's almost impossible to not be influenced by the various cultures. I learned hospitality from the Qataris, how to make good tea from the Indians, Arabic from all of my Arab friends (Egypt, Yemen, Syria, etc.), and rugby from the Australians among other things.

This heavily influenced our community in regards to racism and multicultural understanding. Since we were no longer ignorant and arrogant of other cultures and ethnicity, racism did not exist.

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/096Ojk3T1JYIOkw7lzi8q4C8Q

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/06bJZHvVyS65M9G44S_XZOsCQ

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/09dL4_aX6xJIczpyEvri-ILrw

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/01a5OEE5IiuyjW6nKSuTiLFoQ

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Watch Here: https://share.icloud.com/photos/077V7wGEXHbmpiz_gi7xkBlsQ

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Day 9 Revisit - Impact of Monolingualism

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Day 9 Revisit - Impact of Monolingualism

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My first language is English. When I moved to Qatar, I did not know Arabic, so I was not able to communicate effectively. I couldn't understand the road signs and food menus or have as-good conversations with the neighbors or even my extended family. Arabic is the language of the country, my family, and my religion.

I started learning Arabic in 5th grade. As it got better, I could do all the things that I struggled with as mentioned previously. It's also allowed me to think more effectively as learning more than one language improves connections in the brain.

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I have a friend who is blind. He is an old man who used to come to the mosque frequently. He knew everyone by their voice and always came early to prayer. Sometimes he would give the Athan. He would get places by taking the CapMetro Access bus that is basically a taxi for disabled people, or as they are called back in Qatar: people of determination. He stopped coming once Covid started because he is highly at risk.

The discussion in class made me remember this man and realize how much of a blessing it is to not be disabled and to be healthy. I can go where I please whenever I please and experience both the beauty and the ugliness.

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I've had the opportunity to work on a number of incredible projects that I'm pleased to share. Not only do I enjoy showcasing my work, but also sharing details about the creative process behind each project. Feel free to browse through my portfolio, and get in touch if you have a project in mind that you'd like to explore together.

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Photo is of the Electrical Engineering Research Center at UT Austin

BIO

As a passionate and motivated professional, I'm constantly striving to improve my techniques, expand my skill set and find new opportunities to grow. Each of my projects - both solo and collaborative - have provided this growth and allowed me to establish myself within this competitive industry. Please enjoy my portfolio, and feel free to get in touch with any questions.

"If you're doing what everyone else is doing, you're doing it wrong"

Casey Neistat

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I've had the opportunity to work on a number of incredible projects that I'm pleased to share. Not only do I enjoy showcasing my work, but also sharing details about the creative process behind each project. Feel free to browse through my portfolio, and get in touch if you have a project in mind that you'd like to explore together.