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My Journey
by Mujahid Ali
Four or five
years ago you
wouldn’t have recognized me. I sat in the back
of the classroom and avoided talking to anyone.
I am taking this opportunity to communicate to
the readers even the youth have a platform to
learn and practice.
I was introduced to Toastmasters by one of
my dad’s friends, Coach Tahseen Mohammed.
My first day there as a guest, I was amazed to
see how kids my age were speaking in front of
crowds of 30 people. The meeting compelled
me to join the club if I wanted to get better at
speaking and my parents knew it as well. As time
passed I could tell that my speaking skills were
getting better, I wasn’t as scared to go up and
present in class or ask questions. Not only my
speaking skills were improving, along with that
I was being less scared to speak and jumped in
to take chances, this helped me in making more
friends.
After being a member for four years, it was
the time for the club elections. A feeling to step
up and try something new, made me decide to
run for an officer role. It came as a surprise, I got
elected to the FUTURE STARS Club as secretary.
Initially, I thought it would just glamorize my
college resume and I wouldn’t need to do much
as a secretary.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I felt like
this may have been the best choice I made.
Becoming secretary taught me many useful skills.
For example, how to take good notes because
I had to take notes throughout the meetings. I
also had to email the parents weekly, reminding
“I’m a great believer that any tool that enhances communication
has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each
other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they’re
interested in.”–Bill Gates
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them to bring snacks, and the members for their
reason of absence, I especially had to manage
my time because there was quite a bit to do, such
as email the meeting minutes after our weekly
meeting, the recognition for the best evaluator
and the best table topics speaker as well as, at the
same time, other lessons like how to do things
on the fly when I missed a deadline. I feel pride
in completing a year in this role as I learned
from the members, officers and coaches of the
club and improved from the person I was before
becoming a secretary.
I recognized that Toastmasters isn’t just for
developing your speaking skills. There is a lot
more that comes with it, You enhance your
leadership skills, learn how to manage yourself,
and build a lot of self-esteem and confidence
with diligence. My goal for next year is to finish
my CC manual.
Future Stars Gavel Club, is a youth communication
and leadership club administered by Toastmasters
International, helping the young people of today
become the great leaders of tomorrow! The club is
open to all middle school and high school aged kids. It
gives them the opportunity to become better listeners,
thinkers, speakers and leaders.
The club meets weekly during the school year every
Saturday from 10:30am-12:00pm at 4115 SW 160th
Avenue, Beaverton, Oregon 97007 in the first room
in the portal. To learn more about Future Stars or
to visit the club, pleas contact Coach Humaira at
futurestarspdx@gmail.com. Visitors are encouraged
to visit the club and see for themselves why Future
Stars should be part of their educational journey.
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 JANUARY, 2017