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| Student Areej Hassan stands proudly in front of the Monash Religious Centre, showing off her bright red scarf. |
Areej Hassan born and brought up in muslim dominated countries prior to moving to Australia expressed great interest in writing about political issues from a young age.
"[...] My granddad used to watch those political talk shows at night and I used to just sit with him, I was just 10 or 11 but I was more interested in those." she said.
However, at the age of 15, her family made the decision to move to Tasmania, causing Areej's passion for writing to further be fuelled by her and her mother's racist and Islamophobic encounters.
"[...]I started to look at the news more often and then my mum started talking the patients she faced and how they would just come to ask about Islam rather than being there for the actual consultation, just because she had the scarf [...]. They would be surprised and be like “I don’t feel that comfortable”" she said, referring to what her mother had faced as a general practitioner in the western country.
These unnecessary comments and questions sparked Areej to feel more strongly about her religion and to write to those who viewed her faith as threatening or erroneous, resulting in the production of one of her most viewed and well received pieces "Plea of A Muslim Immigrant.'
"[...] I had to read it out loud in front of everyone and my parents told me, I couldn’t see anyone cause I wasn’t wearing my glasses, but my parents told me “people are crying” and people came up to me and they said “I feel you” and I had no intention of making people cry" she recounts the event.