Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2012 - (Page 32)

The World on Stage by Fatima Husain “We have become not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic; diﬀerent people, diﬀerent beliefs, diﬀerent yearnings, diﬀerent hopes, diﬀerent dreams.” —Jimmy Carter B ehind the red velvet curtain, what will be the most popular act of the night, Bollywood Dance, prepares to perform. Already the crowd is enthusiastic: the two previous acts—Chinese Pop Music and Belly Dancing— were hits. As the curtain slowly opens, the hit Bollywood song “Sheila Ki Jawanne” begins to pour from the auditorium speakers and the audience cheers. The enthusiasm of the dancers delights the crowd. Afterward, the relieved and overjoyed Bollywood dancers thank the audience and exit the stage, while the next act prepares to enter. This is International Night. an evening filled with cultural performances and activities by students from our school district, as well as presentations by organizations such as Hope 4 Africa, Invisible Children, and Soccer Without Borders. When I started high school, I attended my school’s Activity Fair. I was drawn to the colorful decorations and cultural items displayed on the World Cultures Club table. I wanted to learn about other cultures, and I welcomed the opportunity to share my Pakistani heritage with others. During weekly meetings, World Cultures Club members have the opportunity to talk about their countries of origin. The club also hosts an array of cultural activities, including outings to ethnic restaurants, festivals, and cultural parties hosted by senior club members. At my first meeting, I helped design posters informing other students about the club. During my second meeting, I spoke to the group about Pakistani culture, which, I learned, bears similarities to Chinese and Japanese cultures with regard to family values and dynamics. I described the traditional dress, the shalwar kameez, and talked about India’s influence on Pakistan. It was refreshing to see people respect and take an interest in my culture. At one of our meetings, the president and vice president of the club began to talk about International Night, an annual event to raise awareness of cultural diversity. The club’s largest event of the year, International Night is Come One, Come All On the first Friday in March, hundreds of students and community members will flock to school for the third annual International Night. The attendees’ three-dollar admission fee, along with all vendor proceeds from the night, are donated to a charity that club members select at the beginning of the school year. The recipient charity for 2011 was the Heifer Foundation, which provides microloans to families to start small businesses in developing countries. We designed brochures for International Night, placing them in classrooms throughout school. To help advertise the event, I dressed in ethnic Pakistani clothing. When curious students in my classes asked why I was wearing the clothing, I explained that these were clothes from my native country, and that I was wearing them to raise awareness about International Night. At meetings, we planned the layout of booths: the vendors would go along one wall of the hallway outside the auditorium, representatives of student organizations along another, and—to keep things as orderly as possible—the kids’ area, where younger children could make cultural masks, would be separate from the two. 32 imagine Jan/Feb 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2012

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2012
Contents
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Reading Tea Leaves
iGEM: Synthetic Biology, Brick by Brick
Young Biologists, Big Discoveries
My Journey to the International Biology Olympiad
Lab Notes
Macro Menagerie
My Summer at SIMR
Selected Opportunities & Resources
The World on Stage
Lessons from Chess
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - January/February 2012