10
A Word From The VP: Anas Gandhi
by Mehreen Rahim
Loyola MSA’s Vice President brings to light a rather interesting story. As a senior majoring in Psychology, Brother Anas hopes to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy. To many, he may appear to be a typical college student. However, no student can match his hardworking nature and his deep interest in participating in many events around campus. Br. Anas transferred to Loyola from Oakton Community College before his Junior year, and MashAllah has quickly climbed the ladder to becoming more involved in the MSA.
Br. Anas’s strong dislike for writing allowed me the pleasure of interviewing him. I found the advice he offered to fellow students valuable and important to keep in mind.
“When I first transferred to Loyola, a friend of mine wanted me to go with him to the MSA GBM because he wanted free pizza. He was my ride home so I decided to tag along. That’s how I got involved in MSA, and SubhanAllah here I am. I was one of those people who looked at MSA tables and events and avoided them. But I found one thing in MSA that was interesting, the newsletter, and from there I got more and more involved in other events. My advice to Freshman would be simply just get involved. Although you might be hesitant, fear not because you will soon realize how rewarding it is. MSA helps you define who you are and what your interests are. It helps you find your path in college and balance it with academics, which should be your top priority. When I look back, I regret not getting involved earlier because I think of all the great relationships I could have had. One day, in the beginning of the Spring semester, I went to the Musallah and asked one of the brothers if he wanted to grab some food with me. He said yes, and two months later we became the best of friends. I regretted not taking that step to meet him earlier because he was graduating and we could have been great friends for even longer. So my advice to anyone and everyone would be to not be afraid in taking the extra step to develop life-long friendships. . Also hanging around the Musallah helps you pray on time, so that’s another thing I would recommend. Join committees, go to Halaqas and other events we put on, just get involved.”
Brother Anas’s reflection and advice allows us all to learn some very valuable lessons about stepping outside of our comfort zone at times, searching for that which interests us, and getting involved as much as possible. The feedback MSA members give on various events including the retreats, halaqas, dinners, and lecture series is always a positive one. The friends you make through MSA and the lessons you learn from lecture series are life-long aspects that you won’t regret.
Brother’s Advisor Welcome
by Toaha Hussain
Assalamualaikum,
My name is Toaha Hussain and I am the new Brothers’ Advisor (aka BA) for the Loyola MSA this year. I’m a Biochemistry major with a Pre-med/Public Health emphasis. I’m also involved on campus with the Wellness Center as a Wellness Advocate, research in the Chemistry department, and I’m part of the Honors Program. Seeing as this is the first issue of Al-Risalah for this year, I just thought I would introduce myself to everyone and give some goals I’d like to help accomplish this year as BA.
Growing up with three brothers, I definitely have some experience getting along with guys and my hope is that I’ll be able to help strengthen the brothers’ community and ensure a strong sense of support in the MSA for this year and the years to come. We’ll be doing this by way of weekly halaqahs (Wednesday evenings), random food excursions, Super Smash Bros, social events (movies, basketball tournaments, etc.), classic “CS’ing” (Chill Session), fantasy football, and more. My hope is that we’ll all get to know each other, hang out, and serve as a support system for each other in every sense: from picking the right professor for organic chemistry to helping strengthen our Deen and relationship with Allah (SWT) to perfecting the “final smash” technique in SS Bros.
We’ll also be having our Brothers’ Retreat at LUREC this year in the spring, during the last weekend of Spring Break (March 6-8). It is my hope that we get as many brothers as possible for this. I can personally say that attending the retreat last year (my first time going) was one of the key events that helped solidify most of the friendships I made with brothers last year. It was definitely one of most memorable events of my college career. It’s a weekend of enjoyment, education, and reflection…..and s’mores.
That all being said, I hope we can get to know one another. Being a senior, I’ve definitely been “around the block” when it comes to college life, so feel free to reach out to me whenever and ask me about anything. It’s my job to serve you all and I’ll be able to do that best when we’re all communicating. Feel free to introduce yourself if we haven’t already met and if you’ve got any ideas at all for things you want to do this year with the brothers, let me know, we can definitely try and make it happen. I look forward to meeting you all!
Jazak Allahu Khayran
Toaha Hussain ([email protected])
Shura