About Someone's Life - Essay Example

? s: Mrs. Shakina Suleiman: Case Study Interview Preparation 25th October My is……….. (Insert your name)…and I have pleasure to interview Mrs. Shakina Suleiman who is a journalist by profession, at Said Khan Hotel in Saudi Arabia. “I would like to get information regarding your family, religion, culture, personal values, academic background and childhood and how they have contributed to your current career. The information you will provide will be held with the highest levels of confidentiality since it is purely for academic purpose. I am also pleased to inform you that your real name will not be used in the analysis of the information you will provide. Would you mind sharing this information about your life with me?” Family Background 1. How many are you in your family? Response: We are father, mother, 3 boys & 4 girls. 2. Are you the last born or the first born in the family? Response: Am 2nd born. 3. What kind of employment did your parents have? Response: Self-employed. 4. What type of business is your family engaged in? Response: Motor vehicle dealer. 5. How did your family contribute to your today’s career? Response: They gave financial, moral, psychological and emotional support. 6. What favorite memories do you have regarding your family? Response: Family parties, evening dinner and weekend outings. 7. What kind of people were your parents and other family members? Response: They were passionate, caring loving, patient and encouraging. 8. What is your marital status? Response: Married. 9. What is the name of your spouse(s)? Response: Mr. Salim Kassim. 10. How many children do you have? Are the boys or girls? Response: One boy. 11. What is the name of your children? Response: Taym Allah. Childhood life. 12. How did you behave as a child? Response: Good manners, obedient and a good listener. 13. Did you grow up in the rural areas or the Urban centers? Response: Urban. 14. Which elementary school did you attend? Response: Royal Community Primary School. 15. What is the relationship between the school you attended and your cultural values? Response: It was a Muslim school upholding Muslim customs. 16. How was your performance in school? Response: Above average. Ethnic Background. 17. How has your nationality influenced your life? Response: It has made me realize importance of peaceful coexistence. 18. Which community do you belong to? Response: Sunnite. 19. How did your community influence your life? Response: Has encouraged me to uphold my religious faith and teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Cultural and social interest. 20. Which cultural activities or social events did you ever take part in? Response: Idul-fitri, 21. When were these events held? Response: Annually. 22. Why were the events organized? Response: To celebrate the month of Ramadhan. 23. What were the rules or regulations regarding the participation in these events? Response: Fasting, praying, giving the needy and washing of feet, hands and head. Only Muslims were involved. 24. What are the cultural believes in your community? Response: Women place is in the kitchen and a man can marry up to four wives at a time 25. How do you feel about these cultural believes? Response: They demean women. 26. What changes have occurred in the recent past regarding your culture? Response: Women are gaining freedom to work. Values. 27. Which values do you posses? Response: Respect for human life, obedience, honesty and trustful 28. Were these values inherited or learnt during your various stages of life? Response: I learnt them as I grew up. 29. How have these values propelled you towards success in life? Response: They help me to interact with others. Religious Influence. 30. Which religion do you belong to? Response: Muslim. 31. What does your religion teach regarding women and work? Response: Women should not do men’s work 32. What does your religion teach on marriage and relationships? Response: Women to be faithful to their husband. 33. How does your religion affect your work and interaction with other people in the Community? Response: Does not encourage interaction with Athens. 34. When did you learn about your religion? Response: Since childhood. Educational Experience 35. Which level of education have you attained? Response: Am a University graduate. 36. Why do you think you were able to achieve that level of education? Response: Sheer hard work, parental support, and desire to excel 37. Which high school did you attend? Response: Muslim Community Girls High School. 38. What made you get good grades in high school? Response: Hard work and moral support from teachers and parents. 39. Which college did you attend? Response: Makerere International University. 40. Why did you take course related to your career? Response: Passion. 41. What greatly motivated you during this period? Response: Exposure to people from diversified background. 42. What challenges did you face? Response: Working even during odd hours of the night. 43. How did these challenges make you a better person you are today? Response: Helped to become flexible and good time manager. 44. How did the school activities in which you participated impact your life? Response: Helped to develop strong leadership qualities. Professional life 45. What makes you like your current job? Response: It is amusing to interact with people and examining various incidences. 46. How did you get to your current job? Response: Through recruitment agency 47. What does your current job involve? Response: Gathering facts, assessing incidences and reporting to the people. 48. What challenges are you facing in your job due to your ethnic background or religion? Response: Staying away from home is seen as being negligent. 49. How have you tried to overcome these challenges? Response: By always trying to be in contact with my family physically and psychologically. 50. What in particular do you feel greatly contributed to your current achievement in life? Response: My good performance and family support. 1. Introduction The future life of a person is influenced by his or her background to a great extent. The family background, childhood activities, friends, school life, customs, economic activities of the community and the career profession will all impact his or her life in one way or another. Mrs. Shakina Suleiman learnt how to be compassionate, loving, social and outspoken as she grew up in a Muslim community and her career as a journalist. My rationale for choosing to discuss her was motivated by her composure, eloquence and cheerfulness. We had met at a United Nations conference on career talk held in a neighboring school sometimes back in which Mrs. Suleiman was one of the guest speakers. Later after the meeting, I approached her warmly and requested her to share her life occurrences with me 2. Methodology I conducted the interview at Said khan Hotel in Saudi Arabia on 25th of October 2012. The exercise took sixty seven minutes during which the respondent answered all the questions clearly. I cross-examined the interview guide to ensure all important details were provided. TI was able to complete the exercise successfully without interruptions. I also thanked my candidate and wished her the very best in all her endeavors in life. Then I organized the data systematically and explored its substance. I used to derive an inference of how a human background can influence his or her lifestyle. I used direct interview which provides first hand information and reliable source of data. Using a structured interview guide ensured that all relevant data was collected and nothing was left to chance. I gave the respondent ample time to recall all the details and sough for a clarification on anything not well understood. This made it easy for me to draw inference from the notes taken down. However, the respondent may fail to recall all important events of his or her life. It may result to emotional breakdown incase of bitter experience like rape, death of a relative or friend hence resulting to incomplete process. Note taking is time consuming and respondent may become impatient if it is not completed within scheduled time. 3. Summary. Shakina Suleiman told me that she was born on 17th of March in 1983 at Kisimaiyu in Somalia in African continent. That was her ancestral place. She was second born in a family of seven siblings. Her father Mr. Mahmud Albkadir was a businessman dealing with imported second hand cars. Her mother was Ms. Amina and was a house wife. Her parents taught them to be honest, hardworking and obedient. That helped her in her career life and in her family when she later got married. Her elder brother Ali Abu-Bakr aged thirty two years is a banker by profession. He is genial and amenable in all aspects. Their third born Mohammed Isa is aged twenty four years. He is a graduate from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and assists his father in business. Halima is their fourth born while their fifth born is called Abida. Both are girls aged twenty one and nineteen years old respectively. The sixth sibling is also a girl aged fifteen years and is currently in form two in Sheikh Khalif Girl’s high school in Somalia. Their last born is a boy by the name Najm al Din aged twelve years. He is currently in standard seven at Royal Community Primary School. She told me that she was brought up in a Muslim family in the country of Somalia. She was a steady Muslim follower who participated in various religious activities. She attended Royal community primary school. She learnt Sharia laws and recited Quran since her earl life in primary school. These practices inspired her to pursue a career in journalism and mass communication. In lower classes, she used to participate in various school activities like drama, reciting poems and verse peaking. Also she used to compose her own narratives which she used to recite to her friends. Her teachers motivated her very much and they used to request her to recite a poems or Quran during school cultural events. She was also given presents by her teachers and parents during such event to motivate her. This inspired her to work even harder to fulfill her desires. Shakina joined Muslim Community Girls High School in the same country for her secondary education. This became a turning point in her life. She got an opportunity to nurture her talents. Shakina established friendship with almost everybody both teachers and her fellow students. She participated in major school activities like science congress, debating club and other activities. She played various games like volleyball, table tennis and soccer. Her teachers very encouraging and always commented positively about her character, enthusiasm and her communal life. She enjoyed working in group work where she could get a chance to help others. During her life in high school, she managed to form “Muslim Community Broadcasting System” which was school based organization. The purpose of this organization was to gather and report major events happening within the school community. This kept everyone in school updated with important issues happening in school. She remained as the main reporter and editor until the time she completed her studies. This organization helped her to nurture her talent which she came to exploit later in her life as a journalist. Shakina excelled very well in high school and then proceeded to Makerere University in Uganda in the year 2000 at the age of seventeen years. She pursued bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. While in college, she still continued to nurture her talent by working hard to produce articles for local radio station in her home country. During part time she composed different creative articles which she kept in her profile. Even before she completed her studies she had received several offers for job to work in various organizations. She opted to join one of the Muslim owned broadcasting systems in her mother country in the year 2006 upon her completion of studies. It was during her time at Makere University when Shakina met with Salim Kassim who was a mechanical engineering finalist student. They developed an intimate relationship which later resulted into marriage. After graduation, Kassim got a job in Kampala Engineering firm limited in Uganda. Also, upon completion of her studies, Shakina got a job in her home country with a local radio station and later they got married. Shakina told me that she is now married to Mr. Salim Kassim who is a mechanical engineer in Saudi Arabia. He is a source of inspiration and very supportive in her career. He always encouraged her to do good to all people regardless of their social or political background. They have one son Taym Allah who was born on 19th October 2006. He is aged six years and currently in standard two in their home country. From what I learnt about her, Shakina has insurmountable liking for her profession. One thing she has always enjoyed in her profession is social life. She has interacted with people from all walks of life and this has given her life meaning. She has also travelled to many places across the globe. She has achieved many things in her life including well paying job, a good family and many friends of all calibers. 4. Analysis and conclusion I realized that Shakina has lived a happy life despite the fact that she was born in a war torn country of Somalia in Africa. As a child, she grew close to her parents and her siblings who were all source of her inspiration. Her career as a journalist transformed her life completely for giving her opportunities to tour many places and interact with people from different backgrounds. She has encountered many deaths threatening moments in her career. This has strengthened and made her compassionate for many people who undergo intense sufferings from various problems. From her life history, it is evident that family background and friends will determine the foundation a person lays in his or her childhood. Also, the learning institutions and the career a person pursues have influence on a person’s future life. However, I concluded that the destiny of a person is always in his or her own will. Regardless of the surrounding circumstances, you can choose what you want to be by setting your goals wisely. Reference Sukeiman Shakina, About My Life, (2012), PP.8 Read More