Opinions

What does it mean to be a Muslim in a mostly Western society? With globalization bringing different cultures and religions together, Islam is the second most largest religion in the world. Islam is often talked about and is very misunderstood. Islam is a religion based on believing in one God and one God only. As a black Muslim hijab girl living in the West I can say it is a very misunderstood religion. In America when you hear or see Muslims, some people might think of terrorists. Which was a horrible attack that took place on September 11th 2001. The people who carried out the terrorist attack do not represent true Islam.

The actions they made and sins committed that day goes against the core teachings of the Islamic religion, which highly emphasizes peace, justice, and compassion. Aminata Soukouna a Freshman at stated Peace comes to my mind when she thinks of Islam. “I feel like Islam is a religion of pious people. I think now some society in the West portrays Islam as this religion of bad people or evil people, but in reality they are not. It is a religion of peace.” Sometimes Muslim people tend to feel out of place as Muslims. Roughiatou Diallo a Junior at , said, “to be a Hijabi in the Western society sometimes it is degrading to me, People can judge me just because of me wearing my hijab, Sometimes people can make me feel less than, But I continue to stay strong and thrive because I believes in my religion” In the article “Modern Islam” by the Wed Leigh University states, that according to Gallup, 52% of

Americans agree the West does not respect Muslim societies and studies show negative public of Muslims. After 9/11 anti-Muslims attitudes in America advanced, leading to a rise in hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims. Government reports and civil groups have documented numerous incidents. This is just highlighting how negative stereotypes are here in the West. Austin Bump, a sophomore at , said, “I think Muslim people are just regular people just with different beliefs of religion sometimes religion doesn’t show in a person sometimes people will not act upon their religions; it's your choice whether you’re a good or bad person.” I agree with him 100% because for example 9/11 those people claimed to be Muslim but are not true Muslims; they were in fact not acting upon their religion because Islam does not condone those behaviors. At the end, we are all just people, and we all are human. In conclusion, I believe Muslims are not bad people. The negative stereotypes only serve to hide the reality on how Islam is based on peace, compassion, and justice. As I have seen and experienced, it’s our actions not our labels that define who we are as a person.

Even though sometimes people tend to misuse the religion of Islam on their own, that does not represent the true teachings of Islam. At the end of the day, we are all humans, and it is up to us people to look beyond bias and embrace understanding. .

As college sports make millions of dollars, the question is if you think athletes should be paid off their NIL (name, image and likeness) has been a rising conversation. Before NIL came around, athletes only received a little compensation in scholarships for all their hard work, while their colleges benefited much more from the student athletes. While NIL is still a developing process, their efforts to help college athletes get paid for all their hard work could be a great thing. A big problem with NIL is the equal opportunities some of bigger stars will make a lot more.

Coach Tim Coleman at Western Hills says, “all should be paid the same because they are a part of the same institution,” and this would be the best cause for NIL. Another problem is without proper oversight, student-athletes risk being taken advantage of by unscrupulous agents or sponsors. Senior at Western Hills Faustina Ansah says, “It shouldn't be negative because they already are balancing their sports and academics.” Head of the NCAA was worried that paying athletes would take their focus away from the classroom, but Ansah

They deserve to get paid because they're the ones actually putting in the hard work,” said West High senior Cheickna Diaby.

makes a great point about how you would be able to play your sport if you're not doing well in the classroom. Everyone would work harder if they know they're getting paid to do it. NIL has its pros and cons, but one good thing about it is that it gives college athletes money while they are playing the sport , because fewer than 2% of college athletes go pro. Western Hills Coach Bryce Stokes said, “Yes, since most athletes won't make it pro they are staying in college longer to play the sport they love and get paid while doing it.” That's something that athletes can really benefit from to help maintain a good living after college. The overall argument of this topic was if college athletes should get paid. There's lots of opinion on this topic going around right now.

Senior at Western Hills, Cheickna Diaby, added that “yes, they deserve to get paid because they're the ones actually putting in the hard work.” With colleges on average making 100 million dollars a year and some of the top schools making 200 million dollars, I could see his point in that. Personally I would hope to get paid for my hard work just like anyone else would, so I definitely feel for all the athletes that could be struggling, while their college makes all the money.