At first, I was a bit discouraged and very disappointed at all the technical issues I faced at the beginning of my Soliya experience. The process was very hectic and there were a lot of mistakes done by the Soliya team that caused me to miss out on my first two Soliya sessions, which was really an unpleasant situation for me. So, I tried to make up for the lost time by asking two of my colleagues in class about how their experience has been. Both of them agreed that one’s interaction and involvement in the Soliya online discussions depends on whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, and they both agreed that some people in the conversation tend to be quite shy while others are more expressive. One of them hated the fact that he had to sit for two hours in front of a screen and thought that the time was too much. While, the other actually wanted more sessions or more time than two hours. They both enjoyed the discussions that ranged from poverty and world hunger to politics and discrimination, but one of my colleagues said that he did not like the fact that because his name implied that he was a Muslim, he kept receiving a lot of questions about his religion. The same thing happened to me when I caught up on my last two sessions, however I admired their interest and their curiosity in trying to understand Islam, but I also felt a huge responsibility towards them and towards my religion as I did not want to give out any wrong information or have my words be perceived as the words of Islam. So, I was very aware of what I was saying and I made it clear beforehand that I am no expert and that anything I say is only my personal humble understanding of my religion.
I am really glad I was able to attend my last two Soliya sessions, because it was such a great experience that I really enjoyed even though I thought I wouldn’t. I was in group 96 our facilitator’s name is Kadeen she was very helpful and she was able to construct really interesting conversations and encouraged us all to talk and express ourselves and get to know each other. We’ve had heated debates over some very controversial topics such as cultural differences, homosexuality, religion, gender equality, sexual abuse, racism, and the environment. Opinions varied concerning some of these topics, but generally I think we were very respectful and very considerate towards each other. I liked the fact that each of us was able to speak his/her mind and express our views about different subjects even though we did not agree at all times, each person still felt included in the conversation and got the chance to communicate his/her perspective to the rest of the group without fear of being judged. Having these discussions with people from different parts of the world was a very insightful experience, for me though I felt like it was a bit predictable in that I could’ve guessed some of their positions on certain subjects before they said them. Given their backgrounds, ages, nationalities, religion, I was able to make an educated guess about what each person’s views towards a certain topic would be so really there was no shock there.
In regards to the online communication technique, I liked the fact that there was a talk, release, and raise a hand options so there would be a way to regulate the conversation and no one would talk over the other. I also liked the small chat box that we could type in while talking, sometimes our facilitator wrote questions, or themes in it and sometimes we addressed each other and said jokes. As a communicator in the digital world this experience taught me two very important lessons. First, online video chatting is a really cool approach if you can’t reach this person otherwise then through the screen may be your go to approach to gather a lot of people from completely different places to chat. Second, I think that it is very important to know your audience and know your subject before deciding to tackle a specific topic that may not be of any importance to you but may be a sensitive topic to someone else. I think it is very important to be mindful of your language and your attitude when talking about something that the other person may not necessarily be on board with in order not to convey the wrong message. In order to foster a healthy interactive communication experience, it is very important to be respectful and considerate of other people’s opinions and other people’s feelings in order not to offend anyone. Also, having a difference of opinion is quite natural so even if we do not agree we should first try to listen and understand and not be judgmental towards one another.
To sum up, I think a lot of the discussions we’ve had in our Soliya sessions involved the overall themes of equity, empathy, and diversity which are the topics that we usually tackle throughout the semester in class. It was intriguing to see them being expressed one way or another throughout this global online experience. I only spent two sessions with my group, but I really learned a lot from my discussions with them and upon their words knowing that I’ve taught them a thing or two made me really happy for getting involved in our discussions. All in all, it was a very captivating and thought provoking communicative experience.
Mariam Ibrahim 