2023 Sep M 12
Written By R.lL12 year old Middle school student
Todays class I came in 30 minutes late due to me waking up at 9:05. When I came every student in level one was sitting criss cross on due to LG being disappointed in us. I didn’t realize that we were supposed to be sitting in a specific way and sat down regularly, then LG explained why we were sitting like this (he was dissatisfied with our progress). Me and my brother H came and LG told H to sit down and introduce himself. H used to be a student and he inherited the class from his older brother. H now goes to George Washington University. He talked about how he took a lot of crap from LG too, he used to have to do push ups as a punishment.
Once H was finished introducing himself LG asked me if I had a notebook I didn’t so he gave me one. Then LG and H talked about note taking. H said how note taking should be a active recall and not to write exactly what he’s saying but a summary you can understand. LG said he used to use notes to his advantage all the time in Law School.
LG then briefly left the class and H took over. H talked about the concept of 9-5 and 5-9. 9-5 has been for years the average time for work, school, etc. 5-9 is usually the time you are spending at home. Obviously you are acting different in 9-5 and in 5-9. But growing up as Muslims teenagers some of us can’t find the balance between 9-5 and 5-9, one thing Greenstairs is supposed to teach you is the balance of school and home. Then H left and LG took over. LG elaborated on the 9-5 and 5-9 and said that usually 9-5 is non Islamic and 5-9 is Islamic. But one common aspect we spoke about between 9-5 and 5-9 is Universal Value. Aspects of Universal Value are being kind, respectful, with Universal Value it doesn’t matter if it’s Islamic, Christianity, or anything I thought about it as a common factor.
We next talked about “Tree trunk.” The tree trunk is the base of the tree. Through the tree trunk more branches grow. We talked about how Islam was the tree trunk then more sects/branches grow such as Sunni and Shia, which both have some things in common like both believe in the shahada (I bear witness there is no God but God and Muhammad is his slave and messenger.”
We next talked about how a key difference between Islam and some other religions is Islam uses CCA (Common Sense, Context, And Accountability).LG talked mostly about accountability. He gave a example about how if another student (H) were to talk bad about LG because LG criticized his essay, and then LG moved to Iceland and they didn’t have a phone in Iceland and before H could get the chance to apologize LG passed then on the day of judgment if H has very good deeds but he never apologized to LG then LG has a right over H. If H tries to apologize to LG but LG doesn’t except then it would be LG’s fault.
He then talked about some main concepts he taught us. Purpose of life which is to do good. Accountability which could involve the other person having a right on you.
We then moved onto testing. Every level one student failed testing which we were supposed to be finished with due to us being in our seventh week of class. As a result LG told us to go outside and work on our testing sheet (we were testing the full prayer and surahs in Arabic and English). We took a break half way through to eat, I had 2 slices of pizza one veggie and one cheese.I did end up testing 75% of the sheet with a parent and passed, she just told me to say it clearly.
At 12:30 we went inside the class for discussion. LG gave us all BubbleGum with a fact on the wrapper I did not know there was a fact on the wrapper so I ripped it open. He brought these from his vacation I wasn’t entirely sure where he got them from due to him going to multiple different countries. He said he was excited to get to give these BubbleGums to us for passing but was disappointed since no one in level one passed. LG talked about how we should use the Greenstairs resources to our advantage. Then my mom (T) came to the class. LG asked all of us whether we wanted to see the world like his wife, or read and learn about it like him. Majority of the class said they would want to see it instead of just reading about it, however I said I wanted to read about it, I said this because I’ve noticed that this knowledge has been useful when geography is brought up. LG brought T up to teach us life lessons she talked about how she teaches at George Washington University. She also does Clinic two days in the week. She said a very key factor in success is hard work, I agree to this but I also think that if you work smart sometimes you will be able to achieve what you wanted more efficiently. T also told us about her son who is 30 years old (my oldest brother) and how he recently got married and when he joined the class when he was a teenager and how much progress he made. He also presented to a FBI agent in his first month of Greenstairs. She also talked about H (my other brother) and how the reason he came to this class was because she liked the metaphors they used and thought it would be useful for H.
We also made the translation of Surah Al Asr into a dua for ourselves. We said “Ya Allah I will be in a state of loss except if I believe, do good deeds, join together, speak the truth, and be patient.
We then ended class, I think it was a poor performance day for me and all level one students were suspended for one week including me.