Helen Samhan

Ms. Samhan was very interesting and great to listen to. I am not very knowledgeable in the field of Arab Americans, and I think that I feel more educated about the culture after listening to her speak. I learned alot about the history and the culture of the Arabs. They came over to America starting in the 1880s in large waves. Most were from the Ottoman Empire and spoke Arabic. Christians were the minority in the Arab world and most were Muslim, but 95% of the first immigrants came over because they were Christian and wanted to practice Christianity. Her mother was 1 of 5 girls, and her mom wanted her girls to go to school, which was unusual for Arab education practices. Arab women were normally peddlers, and they became business women by making product and selling it, and eventually started opening up shops. America put in an immigration law in the 1920s and only allowed 2% of each population to be admitted. Asians were banned from becoming citizens, they wanted Northern Europeans in America. In 1960, the immigration law changed again, America now let anyone in, and a new wave of Arabs began to immigrate in. They were mostly Muslim and Aab speaking. An Arab feminist movement formed in the 1980s and focused on cultural feminism issues. I learned a lot from the movie that we watched in class, I never realized how Arabs felt after 9/11 and how they are being exploited as terrorists. Ms. Samhan was definitely a different view on leadership than the previous speakers, and it was really a great opportunity to listen to her speak.

Helen Samhan~ Kayse

I also really enjoyed the speaker from last class. I enjoy when we hear about different cultures and ways of life and how it applies to what we are learning. I was so interested in what the speaker had to say. She seemed like such a fascinating woman that had a wealth of information. I liked the subject of her presentation. Middle-Eastern culture is so interesting to me and I feel a little close to it as one of my best friends that I grew up with is both Syrian and Egyptian. Hearing what the speaker had to say and seeing the women in the film made me think of my friend, her family, and house, and actually made me miss her so much as she is away at school right now. I feel that this type of presentation is so important because the Middle Eastern culture definitely has a presence in this area and needs to be understood and appreciated. Also, for people who may have a negative view of their culture, educational presentations such as this could do a lot to show others what their culture really is about. Aside from the content, I thought that our speaker was very well-prepared and could have gone on much longer if we had let her. Not to bash the other speakers, but I felt as if they came with very little material in order to use us for their presentations which made me feel awkward and put on the spot.

Guest Speaker: Helen Samhan

I really enjoyed having Helen come in and speak to us about Arabs in America. I liked how she started of by giving the history of Arab immigrants coming to U.S. The video she showed us was beneficial because we were able to her a live commentary on Arab women and how they felt after 9-11. At the end I think we had a great discussion and she answered all of our questions well. I was able to relate to what she was saying because I have been to that part of the world and know how women are there. I know that just as we think of women's status back in their home countries those women also have a curiousity about American women and their lifestyles. I thought she was informative and noticed her confidence and willingness to answer the questions we had.

Julie Womble- Parts IV and V

I really liked the parts in the book about knowing yourself, knowing others, how you both fit together, group conflict, and the relational leadership model. I think that this section of the book I am really interested in because I believe that leadership is all about people and the processes between them that create this relationship that we know as leadership. Dealing with change is another important aspect of leadership, because that is the one thing that we can always count on, change.
It is important to know yourself before you lead because you need to know who you are and how you are going to react to situations. You want to have your base of ethics and morals, and when you are pushed to your limits, your true self will come out. As a leader, you should have great self awareness so that you can see where you fit into the group, how you should react to different types of people, and how you should lead different groups. Knowing others and the group process is important for you as well, so that you know everyones strengths and weaknesses and know how to form the group and have it work effectively. Within all of this group mess, it is imporant to recognize the process and see how it works. The relational leadership model fits all of these components into a diagram which shows the process. There are 3 parts to the model- group, individual, and community values.
Within these values are:

individual:
consciousness of self-basically self awareness, who you are and how you fit into the group
congruence- you do and believe in what you say you do, integrity
commitment- being committed to yourself and to a cause

group:
collaboration- come together as a group, form ideas together and come to some sort of agreement
common purpose- be brought together by a shared goal or purpose
controversy with civility- most effective groups have controversy, which helps the group grow and learn. to be successful, you must be civil and not take opinions personal.

community:
citizenship- committed to who you are and taking care of others around you

One of my strengths in StrengthsQuest (actually my #1) is relator. I feel like all of these aspects combined fill parts of my philosophy of leadership because of the relationships and working together aspects. I really enjoyed these 2 parts of the book!

Part IV Saher

This was an interesting topic to read about in leadership. Something a bit different then what we have been discussing in class as part of being a good leader. Being adaptable to change is very important. I think change is very hard on people as it moves you out of your comfort zone. However, the book suggests that a critical leadership task is to understand this tension and transform it into “creative tension”. Change is something that isn’t easy to do, but certainly can be provide people with benefit. I liked the message the book presented about leaders when they facilitate change is to help others come out from their weaknesses and not fear anything and be confident. Creating opportunities for people to think broadly and take chances and flow with change rather then ponder it is a great way to get people involved. I think it is really good to have a support system along with you when you are the one going through a change. Having people assure you that what your doing is great definitely helps on the path to changing whatever it might be. I agree with the book that change is easier said then done. The eight stage process of creating change was interesting. I know in my life I have had to change things and it hasn’t always easy for me. As Sarah mentioned moving away was a difficult choice, but at the end she felt as if she made the right decision. I remember changing school several times. It was hard, I resisted, I didn’t like it and most importantly I wasn’t ready for it. As I allowed myself and began to have a good support with me that encouraged me to take the step in changing schools, I felt better. Throughout life we will need to change ourselves or something we do because of “new changes” that will make us change our old ways. Recognizing it has something good rather then a problematic step can help one overcome it.

Parts IV & V~ Kayse

I found these two sections to be very interesting, though the first was a little upsetting for me, especially at present. The first section dealt with the subject of change. To me, sometimes, change is a dirty word. Many people may think of it as refreshing renewal, but I rarely associate such an experience with it. I almost always think of negative outcomes. It seems that in my life, just as I am getting the hang of things, or getting comfortable with a group of people, something comes about that gums up the works. I just don't understand why some things can't stay constant. Or, I have the opposite experience, I wish for change, but then regret it. I just can't seem to find a balance. The section, however, approached the subject of change as a necessary process that may not be able to be controlled, but it can be managed. I felt that this information alone was a little encouraging, and I didn't feel so upset.

The other section was about identity as a leader. The first thing that was mentioned was the fact that social identity is often established before leader identity. I didn't like how social identity was described, however. It seemed only to relate identity to the organizations or activities one participates in; I think it goes much deeper than that. Regardless of that opinion of mine, I feel that this section was very helpful and played on the strengths of the individual in order to determine how one would succeed as a leader. It definitely put some things in perspective for me and was a good note to end on.

Part IV Fatema

Well I find this part of the book as interesting as I found part II. What I love about these two parts of the book II and IV was that a person can really relate to it, For example in part IV is about understanding change and the fact that we fear change because we are unaware of it's outcome. whether it is a change in the workforce, school, and or family we are all afraid at the begining because we don't know whether it is for the best or worst. For example using this blog, at the begining I hated using this blog becasue I did not know how to use it, since I had never been introduced to it, I feared it and ended up to hating it. But after I got the hang of it and became comforable with using I . That was when I ended up not missing out on any blog. Although my example of change was not as great some of the other's that I read but the point is that all of us will eventually run into change some day and what I have learned is that you should not be afraid of it, and rather give it a chance because the outcome can suprisnigly be great. The reason that I fear change is because number 1) I am so used to doing whatever is it and when change comes along, it just throws me off my comfort zone. 2) I don't know what are going to be the affects of the change, 3) will be able to adapt to it or not. But if you eliment all these things and go ahead with the change and put your 100 percent then you will do good in whatever section it is, and on top of that you won't have any regerets. Change is good but as long as we are able to make the risk and give it a chance.