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This week is teacher appreciation week, and I wanted to share my appreciation for all the professors at Dartmouth who have influenced me during my freshman year. Coming from a public high school, the adjustment to college is definitely intense; however, many professors have helped me adjust to college (many of which I can't include in this post!).

The first class I ever took at Dartmouth was Arabic with Professor Mostafa Oujjanni; ever since, I have attended this class every morning for the past 3 terms at Dartmouth. I've been shocked at how quickly I've been able to pick up huge amounts of the language; through drill practice, class activities, and involved homework assignments and projects, Professor Oujjanni has made sure that students receive a wide variety of practice on speaking, reading, and writing Arabic. In addition, he shares tons of other information about the Arabic-speaking world, and has even brought us homemade Moroccan couscous to provide a window into Moroccan cuisine. Office hours are always flexible, and he makes class a low-stress environment by encouraging students to participate and not placing a huge emphasis on numerical grading standards. For instance, instead of grading homework he provides personalized feedback on each student's assignment, more effectively helping me understand what I need to work on. Professor Oujjanni is an excellent teacher, and I look forward to studying Arabic with him at Dartmouth!

A class that had a tremendous impact on me was Israel-Palestine politics during my freshman fall. Professor Bernard Avishai is a visiting professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and taking his course was a pleasure; the Israel-Palestine conflict is a huge topic to handle, and I found that he did so very methodically. Our readings generally tracked both the Israeli and Palestinian perspectives of history throughout time, which helped me understand the nuance of both the Israeli and Palestinian perspectives. Furthermore, Professor Avishai spent his career living in Israel-Palestine and working as a high-profile journalist; because of this, he had tons of knowledge about the various players and contexts of different topics in the class. Having this insight made the class really enjoyable for me, and inspired me to get more involved with Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth, which would eventually inspire my current major and future plan!

I took Arab Feminisms with Professor Eman Morsi during my freshman winter. I was able to immediately identify her passion for the subject. Looking through the syllabus, the class was incredibly planned out and comprehensive; while there were a large amount of readings, they were carefully picked and were really interesting. Furthermore, I feel that we were able to effectively discuss them during class discussions, where Professor Morsi acted as a facilitator and encouraged all students to participate and share their thoughts. She also used tons of unique lesson plans to incorporate group work, projects, and games to communicate key ideas in the material. Overall, I really looked forward to going to Professor Morsi's class during the winter.

One of the best things about Dartmouth is the professors; they are truly passionate, and having the experience to meet these fascinating people during my freshman year has been a joy. I'm really looking forward to taking more classes and meeting more inspirational professors. 

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