My UWCSEA Learning Journey

We had two sessions with Hanna Alkaf.

In the first one, where she talked about herself and her life/career, she highlighted the issue of representation in literature. When she asked us if we saw ourselves in our favourite books, many of us didn’t raise our hands. I didn’t raise my hand. I found that interesting because I initially thought that a story you enjoy or relate to the most would have some resonance with your life. It made sense in my mind, but even I didn’t raise my hand. As she revealed, in a literary world with around 50% of white characters and 27% of animal characters, it can be hard to see/find yourself in YA and Middle-grade novels. The general situation wasn’t necessarily a surprise to me, but the specific numbers were a bit shocking.

I admire how she has taken it into her own hands to make sure that her kids can see themselves in books as they get older. The discussion around representation in all forms of media is quite relevant at the moment, especially with a growing awareness around issues in mainstream media such as non-diverse film castings.

The second session was focused on writing techniques and journalism. It was helpful, especially with the reference/analogy of ‘making monsters’ in connection to the story of Frankenstein. She went through all of the essential elements of writing and how they contribute to the story/article. The examples she shared with us highlighted the impact of certain techniques well, and overall, the session was informative and useful.

Listening to Mr Perera’s story was intriguing because it took a seemingly short and simple story and drew out the greater moral question behind it. Through explaining his experience with racism, particularly in that story, he demonstrated why it’s important to consider the consequences before doing something.

While it was important to avoid direct conflict knowing that the other party was stronger, it was equally important to deal with what is wrong and stand up for himself. He was able to successfully avoid a fight using humour and a little help from his friends.

However, what he said after his story stuck with me– that Hollywood glorifies violence. He described how he had an image in his mind of what ‘a man should be’ at that age, influenced by popular culture and media. Through different forms of media, we are exposed to a lot of ideas and what we see sticks with us. So, it seems reasonable that by watching movies where ‘violence is glorified’, we may start to believe that violence is the way to solve an issue.

What he said about conflict resolution was important– that it is okay to apologise to avoid conflict, even when you are not in the wrong.

Going into the talk, I didn’t know much about criminal psychology, so hearing about how he worked to get to where he is and the kind of work he does was fascinating. Listening to him describe his journey, from his education to his job now, it was clear that he had put a lot of time and effort to get to where he is today. When someone asked him, “What the most harrowing story you’ve ever heard?”, just the expression on his face while trying to form his sentence was enough to realise how tough and traumatising his work can be.

Another aspect that piqued my interest was the concept of what makes humans deter from crime. While it was only a brief mention of a unique view he has during research, it presented a new perspective to consider. In the past, whenever I’ve heard of this topic, I’ve only ever heard the perspective surrounding why people commit crimes; it’s never the other way around.

It was a genuinely fascinating talk.

How far does my reading reflect who I am?

I think that reading can impact a big part of your life. The genres you’re drawn to, the topics that interest you and the lessons you learn all say something about you or give an insight into your life. For example, if you’re drawn to stories surrounding art or music, it could say that you’re interested in those. If you read about

Who owns English and why does it keep changing?

I think that no one truly owns English or any language for that matter. Languages are sort of just in the hands of those who speak it and carry it around the world. They keep changing because as our world changes, we need to be able to adapt our language in order to fit our needs. For example, English didn’t start off as what we know it to be now. It’s the result of years of learning and refining as more and more people contribute to it by spreading it to other communities. The same applies to all languages around the world, some more than others.