1.

What were your expectations when you first started to work on the paper, on
the product and with your mentor? Did your experiences meet those
expectations? How did they differ?
2. What problems did you encounter while researching and writing the paper?
What was your greatest resource in overcoming these obstacles?
3. What was the most interesting or surprising information you learned in your
research?
4. What did you learn about yourself during this project? How will you use what
you learned throughout the rest of your life, academic or not?
5. What did the project teach you about the holistic view Islam has for every
aspect of our life?
6. What would you do differently now that you have finished?
7. What advice would you give to next year’s seniors about how to achieve
success on the senior project?
8. What grade would you give yourself for the project? Give your justifications.

At first, when I was presented with this opportunity, I was elated and was excited for the
opportunity. As I got closer to the date when we would leave for Palestine, I grew more and
more anxious about my abilities. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do the Palestinian people
justice. After the trip, a lot of people came up to me and told me how amazing my videos were
and how cool the whole trip was. I guess for some people, just being there and filming the
videos made an impact.

While writing my paper, which must be written in unbiased academic writing, I found a lot of
biased and one-sided resources. It was hard to find information that didn’t side with either the
Palestinians or the Israelites. I tried to stick closer to the statistic part of my resources and
filtered out the bias.

The most surprising thing I learned during the span of my project is how bad the surgical tools
the Palestinians use are. They are dull and hard to perform surgeries with. I learned that I like to
connect with people, and I learned that sometimes people just need to know someone cares.

Throughout the trip, I felt like Allah was with me. There were so many unknowns and so many
places where I could’ve been hurt or where I could’ve gotten lost. I feel like in a way I wasn’t
alone and Allah protected me throughout the trip Alhamdulillah.

If I were to go on another medical mission, I would bring better equipment, talk to the patients
more and connect better, and get to know the team that I traveled with more. I feel like because
there were so many new things for me I was a little shy and it made me feel very timid. I
gradually became more comfortable, but if I went again I am confident I would be even more
comfortable, and would generate even better content.

For future seniors, my advice is to pick a topic you are passionate about. If you don’t like what
you are talking about and researching, you will get bored and frustrated with your project.
Palestine is always going to be near and dear to my heart and doing this project made me so
happy and fulfilled.