Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Welcome everyone, all the viewers and watchers from the how I learn Arabic stories I'm reading you guys another amazing story inshallah from our brother Zafir Is it Zafir or Zafir? I always have problems with Zafir That's the problem of writing Arabic names in English Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi first of all to you Alhamdulillah warahmatullahi wabarakatuh So I'm going to give you guys a little introduction about our guest today So this brother his name is Zafir Mughal If I'm pronouncing it well He's 23 years old lives in London He's a graphic designer by profession You guys can check him out in MughalGraphics.co.uk The link is going to be in the description And he went to study in Nasr city Nasr city Medina to Nasr Pretty known for all of those western students who went to study once in their life in Egypt I'm pretty sure they went through Nasr city and they probably got stolen by one of them taxi drivers That was in 2017 and you spent over a year studying Arabic That's amazing that I'm actually having the opportunity to To interview brothers and sisters who Kind of had the same journey as me in terms of learning the Arabic language And Egypt is a place known for their mastering Of knowing how to teach those non-native Arabic speakers So I want to ask you first of all What drives you to just take your luggage and be like Okay, I'm going to Egypt to study Arabic It's kind of similar to what you're trying to do yourself In terms of having a business that you can take anywhere around the world So I've been self-employed for a few years now With my graphic design business So I can literally take my laptop anywhere around the world And I'm not restricted to any location So literally I studied in a secondary school An Islamic secondary school So I did an Arabic GCSE qualification I didn't do too well But I had a little bit of a foundation Like I knew what Bait was and I knew what Rajul was So but then literally a few years ago One brother said like you're self-employed You're not restricted by location Why don't you go somewhere and study Arabic or something And I literally thought I thought about it And you know there was nothing stopping me So I literally made the decision I told my parents I booked a flight I found out from the brothers where I can live Expenses how much I need to save up And just made the decision No, alhamdulillah It's actually amazing Because now that you say it When I was in my first year in Alex, Alexandria There was a brother who was a graphic designer by profession as well His website is StrictlySunaDesigns.com And I got inspired by him when it comes in terms of Because I always thought like This brother he was there like for years Like I think at that time it was In between 5 and 10 years And I was amazed I was like how does he even manage to You know to just stay here and not go back and work and this and that And at that time I was 19 So I was kind of like and I was married already So I had to hustle it out So I got inspired by that brother You know I started working a little bit with him Like you know getting inspired Even paying him to do some of those works That I used to use for my business etc But yeah that's nice man I'm going to contact this brother and send him the interview inshallah So shout out to Abu Mustafa Anyway so Taib so let me ask you a question right Before you once you decided that you want to learn Arabic Now let's make clear that you never had other than You know the little studies with the GCSE What is it? G-C-S-E? G-C-S-E yeah G-C-S-E uh studies Yeah if you were to think about the Ben Yadik curriculum Uh uh when I got to Egypt I started from book one part two So uh you know so I passed the I knew that stuff and I knew a few words that's it Okay alhamdulillah So but you never had like your parents are not Arab And you know you went from literally native English In speaker to start into learning Arabic Okay so once you decide to to you know that okay I need to learn Arabic I want to learn Arabic And you find a place to learn Arabic in this case Egypt What was the the feelings like was you afraid of something? Yeah uh I think a lot of brothers when they when they go abroad they have this misconception that As soon as you get on the flight You're coming from a place from from London from New York from America from the UK Anywhere from the western world and as soon as you get on the flight You land in Cairo and now suddenly you're going to become Talib al-A'ilm and you're going to you know you're going to put 100% in And you're going to be very pious you're going to be praying Qiyam every night A lot of others had this misconception and I quickly realized like a day or two in When I met the brothers who were living in my flat and stuff That uh it's not too different to real life like you can't have this Misconception in your in your mind that suddenly you're going to become a different person Yeah you have to be yourself in order to realize what you can gain No definitely uh this this is crazy because in I mean it happens you know a lot of brothers They even myself when I first got to Egypt I was like man I'm going to a Muslim country And you know yeah yeah yeah you know it's really you have the Azzan you have but many many many Different things is worse than than even the United Kingdom I would say like there is a Brothers Allah he's in Qatar right now shout out to Abu Hanifa He used to tell me like my Iman is higher in London because I'm busy with Dawah and I'm Busy teaching I'm busy this and I'm busy that and you know then then Egypt actually Yeah That happens to me a few times as well This is the same thing that you're you're with you're with your group of brothers and you go to the Masjid for for Salah and you you can play it but the vibe the the feeling that you get in London with your community in your masjid you can sit in the front row with your boys drinking a Cup of coffee. It's not the same. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. This is why a lot of This is good that we're talking about this because a lot of people they think that I can only become fluent in Arabic or I can only learn Arabic if I go to an Arab country Or if I go to you know somewhere like Egypt or somewhere like Mauritania or somewhere like that And the reality is that I've met many many different brothers Literally from the beginning like I only know Arabic from them and they are obviously from the UK for example one example is in Birmingham once I was walking in the street I was selling at that time like selling in the street And this brother came to me apparently he said that he He smelled from me that I wasn't from there. I think I was wearing sanders sandals or something And it was probably like sand or on it or something like that And he came to me. Assalamu alaikum. You know your Arabic is really good. Where are you with these studies? I'll study here in In Birmingham. I was like wow You know, so uh, so definitely, I mean it's Like Taliban and you know learning Arabic is It's not restricted by a place or by a location. You can learn it anywhere My personal opinion is that that the location You can be it can be done anywhere The the the location can accelerate your learning So if you go to Egypt, for example, or you go to anywhere any other Arab speaking Arabic speaking country You have the chance to accelerate that learning, but it no means no means does it does it? You know to mean that you can't learn it anywhere else Yeah, definitely and sometimes it might even It might it might like Make your learning slower Yeah, because a lot of brothers they I know many many brothers they got to To uh, I mean it wasn't a point where myself I speak French, you know, there is a French community in Egypt I speak English. There's the uk and the us community. I speak uh, Spanish come that I wasn't no I was I meant like two Spanish brothers five years being in Egypt But the thing is that many times I wouldn't I wouldn't say I speak French or I wouldn't say I speak English Because many brothers they get so used to talking to you in English and at the end of the day It just feels like you you're back home You you don't do anything else than speaking English But definitely when you very very quickly in my flat as well very quickly we said We said early Arabic speaking after a week. We're all speaking English. No problem It's it's like you're back normal living. So yeah, it does you're learning down a lot My main advice all the time for Brothers coming new it was to to stick with the African brothers Or the Arab brothers like the Libyan the You know just they're eating from Algeria. Someone who can't speak the same language as you. Yeah, exactly To struggle with them like oh That was really really good. I mean that helped me a lot Okay, so before knowing Arabic, right? Can you can you name? Three daily frustrations that you had as a you know, normal muslim as a from an islamic perspective um Number one would be not understanding the quran That's that's that was a massive frustration.  He gets tired as well Yeah, exactly. Um, so that's number one number two um I Number two. I didn't have any languages behind me. Uh, I speak English. I'm from a Pakistani background But um, I mean I can understand Punjabi and Urdu, but I can't speak them Because I just grew I grew up in a English speaking household So so I I didn't have any languages, you know in my portfolio. No And um, and the third thing was I don't know Yeah, I can't really think of a third one at the moment Yeah, I think I think it's like so general when it comes to being a muslim you There's always little frustrations when it comes to like, you know, obviously understanding the quran sometimes you might have a question and and And some books are not even translated to English or the information is limited online as well And you can't even call by yourself a scholar You know and things like that and I'm not saying that there's only scholars who speak, uh, you know, arabic But uh, but you know, sometimes you might need something related to I don't know go into an arabic country or something like this Something that only a narrow person can can answer Yeah, yeah, but yeah, it's definitely frustrating sometimes so Frustration actually would would be that I hadn't traveled much Like I've been I've been to visit family other places in the world, but I haven't really traveled. I hadn't really traveled I hadn't been outside of my house, uh, you know by myself For a long period and so that was probably a third one So what what what okay, so you're 23 right now in 2017 You was 21 when you went to Egypt Yeah, okay So, how do you find the country by the way? Just living there as a normal life. It's very it's very yeah, you get very mixed feelings like, uh You you feel the vibe that you you got the other and then you got a masjid every two minute walk And you've got friends and things are cheap You can buy a really nice thing for really low prices. You can go you can go places and you can save a lot of money No, but then there's there's the other side of Egypt that I'm sure a lot of people who've been to Egypt know Where you know, you have the hassle of dealing with shopkeepers and taxi drivers And you've got people shouting in the street and you've got you know You have the little children who have no respect and you know stuff All right, these kids man.   I don't give you a kid. What's your father?    You don't want her to You know answer the door because you don't trust anyone And I've been there for five years and coming to more itania And seeing the respect of the children and seeing You know like the taxi driver asking you like how much are you willing to pay before you even jump on the taxi? Or for example, giving him money and he's like no, no, you're giving me too much. There you go. That's that's your changers I'm like, yeah, I'm staying here. I don't care. I don't care And uh, yeah, that's completely different Many times he messes up with your studies as well, you know in egypt Subhanallah once they they tried to steal my my bike, but the thing there is that Okay, I do I don't have a problem if you come to me and And you try and rub me with a knife Like a man kind of thing quoting quoting below. Yo, give me your your motorbike But there what I don't like is this This mechanic boy He was like, yeah, don't worry. I asked him subhanallah I used to trust him. I used to go to him. He was cool and everything So I asked him, can you do the the number plate for me?  I think it was he said come back on thursday. You will have it inshallah Next thing you know, I come back on thursday. He he literally closed his his whole business He left the the place For a bike. I'm like what? He literally left the place. I asked the people the the business next to it. I said, where's ridah He said, uh, no, he said he was leaving to uh to another place So I asked them. What is the the neighborhood? They said al-waha al-waha is just behind ashir So I was okay. He's in waha. Okay. I'm I'm going to al-waha. Okay.  I didn't take the 600 pounds And I used to see to see him from from time to time and I was like, yo, what's up? I'm not I'm not a violent person and I wouldn't I wouldn't fight for 600 pounds first of all That's like what see six 60 pound And uh, you know, it's no it's no point. Anyways, so I was like Uh, yeah, ridah. How are you, uh, you know, where's the where's the money and isn't that? He would have a lot. I'm sorry.  You're not trying to Busy your your head with this And uh, and yeah, one day I just had to I seen him that day I had to grab him and alhamdulillah. There was the police around police came and put some pressure on him He gave me 400 pounds Then the police officer was uh, let's just forgive him forgive him You know, if you're right and he's like forgiven his heart But you know, I always say that being if you if you spend successfully one year in egypt living You are definitely, you know, you get the the certified Diploma of patience, you know, yeah That's true. I think I think it's important to Let people know as well that this is specifically not so city And yeah in other in other places, you don't you don't find the same Sheda with the with the characteristics Like where for example, I would say maybe rehab Places like this Yeah, rehab is a lot. It's a lot calmer, but it's a lot more expensive Right. So and and and you you don't get the same vibe Not so city you do get all of this nasty nasty Character that you find on the street But at the same time you don't you get really good teachers and you get very good brothers and you got really nice massages The vibe in the street is just completely different It's pros and cons. You have to weigh them out. Yeah, that's definitely the The case because I mean if you're trying to study you definitely have to be around nasa city Aishir And you have to hustle out with you know with all of these these people But uh, it's true that I'm not trying to it's definitely it was definitely a life-changing experience And alhamdulillah that you have Remind me of that because I I'm not trying to You know unmotivate anyone from going to egypt and learn because I believe From by far is the best place to to learn arabic And it's a life experience as well, you know to be able to be Around around people like this sometimes you need to La buddhan taalama shar hatta taalama khair, you know, you need to know the bad. So, you know the good So, yeah, I'm sorry that I get so passionate when talking about egypt Yeah Now before I went I spoke to a lot of brothers a lot of brothers from london go a lot of brothers and uh And I spoke to one brother Many brothers and they they always say that going to egypt was the best time that they had in their life Uh, and and I thought they're over exaggerating or something like that But after being there and after coming back I can I can say that it's it's definitely been the best period that I've ever experienced because the amount of experience and That's just the joys of traveling and studying Studying uh big there and also having things other things to do in terms of leisure and play And entertainment It's just uh, like a a complete package. You you get a real good experience Yeah, definitely. I can say as well that it was The best five years of my life as well You know just the because of the change that are That are how I grew as a person And learned as well and you know or everything that I have accomplished definitely was the best the best but at the same time You know the the the the words, you know, I mean, but how do you like pace out of it pace off? Okay, so going back to to the subject people might be thinking like Are we talking about arabic or are we talking about life experiences? But uh, yeah, but it comes all together when we're going to egypt So uh, so what was the turning point for you when you When you was like, okay, I need to learn arabic now. Was it like a specific thing that happened in your life? Or was it like gradually? uh It was there. Yeah, there wasn't anything There wasn't a turning point like that Like I said because I was free in terms of uh, my employment I wasn't tied down to anything and my my income is you know It it's just uh dependent on my laptop So there wasn't a turning point where I said, okay now I'm going to leave my job And I'm going to do this and I'm going to sell my house and I'm going to move to Egypt. It wasn't like that I'm living with my parents. I've got You know low expenses. I've got uh my laptop that I do my business on so when the brother said to me Uh, why don't you you know go go abroad and study arabic? It was like um Okay, let me try it. No, was he like uh like uh Like a og person in the masjid or like experience brother Or was he just like one of your boys? No, no. Yeah, it's one of my boys. He's it was just um, uh a very close brother of mine. Um, who he he went to He tried to go to Egypt to study arabic back in 2016 17 But his parents wouldn't let him because of uh, they thought it was unsafe So he ended up going to, uh, Morocco for a few months Um, he found a he found an institution where he could uh enroll his wife and his kids Uh, so he studied in Morocco for a few months and then came back to the uk And he was just trying to convince as many brothers as he could to go abroad and study arabic Oh, okay. Is it is he Is he abu um abut amim?  I didn't study any markers Oh, okay.  Yeah, so what was the method he used to to use for to teach you guys? so Uh, in in my time there, I I had uh, three different teachers Uh for for my main arabic my first teacher, uh, sheikh majdi and He uh, he was he was very good. Masha'Allah like excellent. Um, he's one of the og's, you know There was there was a few teachers in marcus fadjah Like back in the day and they basically left fadjah and started their own institution sheikh majdi So I got there. He gave me a little test to see what level I'm on and uh, we started from uh, book one part two of ben yadik curriculum And and our our methodology was we had a two hour lesson every day Uh, he would he would give me two hours of homework every day just at the beginning so I could ease into it so, um My understanding was very poor. I couldn't really understand what he was saying because he only speaks arabic He wouldn't speak english So we would have to use pictures and we would we would just have it would it was a very, uh Difficult situation at the start for the first month or two because I couldn't really understand what he was saying but um, a lot of people they get cold feet at the start and uh, give up but um, I think it's important to know that Uh, within you know, six weeks seven weeks It goes very fast very fast seven eight weeks And and and suddenly you realize that you're starting to pick up words and you're starting to understand what the teacher's saying Even if you don't understand what the teacher is saying like you don't know the meaning of the word You can you know get an understanding of the sentence that he's saying to you. Yeah So, uh, yeah, so for the first, um, about four months um, I had uh, sheikh majdi for two hours a day for arabic And uh, you know, he was he was quite easy with the homework and stuff No, and then about three four months in I decided to get a supplementary teacher Uh For for speaking So so I got a second teacher He would come to my flat um I think for one hour twice a week Okay. Yeah One hour twice a week and he developed his own his own supplementary curriculum to the benyadik series. So he had Book one which had a little bit of a test with all the afaaal all the asma You have to fill in all the tables. You have to put in the maadi mudare Um, and you have to put in for the asma You have to put the jam and the you know all the singular and everything like that So so he would give me all this homework. He would be Shadeed Shadeed with the homework like very very Very Shadeed with the homework To the point where what was the homework was it memorized in the afaaal in the in the vocabulary? Yeah, so yeah, so for the afaaal As soon as he would come to the lesson we would have a list of maybe 300 verbs And for the first 10 minutes of the lesson it would be a drill You're saying all afaaal maadi mudare amr and the mustar and the fa'il mafrool For each verb for all 300 verbs within 10 minutes. You have to go bang bang bang bang without any mistakes No, and and that process. Wow that process strengthened It pays off Amazing That's that's exactly the same The same method. I mean that I think that's the best method ever like Yeah, absolutely. It's memorizing these conjugations. It just gives you crazy vocabulary No, absolutely If you break down your sentence A lot a lot of what you say maybe 50 percent or more is is uh comes from verbs No, no probably more than probably 75 percent Yeah, the rest is just prepositions and And uh names Yeah So, uh So what would you say after a year of this of this intense? So this was only for the first six months Okay, that was for this month. Yeah. Yeah for the second six months. I changed teacher Because the first one wasn't available anymore. Um, so in the second six months It was a bit more than six months. It was probably about eight nine months I changed my teacher to Ostad Hisham and Wow amazing teacher amazing teacher. He's he he was a young teacher. So he we we had a link The first couple of teachers they were you know in the mid early 40s mid 40s, maybe But this teacher he's he's in his late 20s. So we had a connection. We could we could talk about anything So we started with three hour lessons every single day and And we started with the baini ad-dic series Then we started with the az-ramia for nahoo and then we started the even sarud um curriculum as well for for nahoo and and saff Just filling in the text So in a three hour lesson the first hour because we had a very good connection the first hour would be taken up with You know, what did you do last night? Where did you go? What did you eat? um Then we would start we'd go on the you know completely Different tangent we would start talking about things back home and you know It had nothing to do with the lesson But I didn't have a problem with it at all because it was all being done in arabic. It's part of my learning So so a lot of people would actually think i'm paying this teacher, but we're just having a chat But in my mind it's still uh, it'll be very good to be learning It is it is worth it. It is worth it. Okay, so I'm sure now that you can I'll Okay Me Uh I spoke about 9 or 10, but this was after a lot of feedback and a lot of training, but if I thought that I would be back, I could fail. I think this method, I haven't seen anyone who went through this method who haven't become, if done correctly, who haven't become fluent. Because this is what I call fluent in Arabic in one year. You're able to understand the average conversation, maintain a conversation, pick a book and read literally one page and maybe not know one, two, three words. But, Alhamdulillah, be able to go to, because of the way you study it, like conjugations and everything, you're able to take for example a dictionary and be like, okay, what is this word mean? Nassara, what does Nassara mean? So you go Nassara, Nassara Yansuru, I mean the one who speaks Arabic, okay, I understand this now. So Nassara Yansuru, let me see, is it Nassuru or Yansuru or is it Yansara? And then by this method, it not only gives you the tools of finding what you don't know, but it gives you super strong foundations in terms of vocabulary.   So Alhamdulillah, I'm super glad that I have the opportunity to interview you because these eyes open for a lot of people. And I've seen people going through other programs like, you know, in Marques Al Furqa or Marques Al Iban or Marques, different Marques where they have their own curriculum just to make it seem nice. But sometimes you just need to stick to simplicity man, you know, and to what works and not trying to reinvent the wheel, you know. Yeah, no, with my, with my, the teacher, Shai Osath Hisham, that I had for the second six months, we picked up Ben Yadik Ibn Sa'ud, Azul Amir and all these things. But in terms of following the actual curriculum, it wouldn't, we wouldn't be like, okay, we have to finish chapter one in this, this two weeks. Like, I know so many brothers who came to Egypt, and within eight months, they had finished all four books of Ben Yadik, but they couldn't still hold a simple conversation. There's no point, there's no point in, you know, trying to finish the curriculum when you're not soaking anything in. Yeah, definitely. So literally after, after like 14 months of being there, I had only reached like, you know, halfway through book three or the start of book three. Because we went to, we went to bothered with, with where we reach in the curriculum, as long as what's being taught is really soaking in and you're actually learning something. Yeah, exactly. Even myself from Arabian Ibn Yadik, to be honest, I don't even think I got into book three. I remember in the, in the Americas, I was, it was in Alex, and there were, I think, 14 or 12 mustawayat. And I only got to eight, mustawayat, and then I was, I'm just going to Azul Amir now. Like, I felt, you know, I felt like I had enough vocabulary, but why? I memorized, as you said, I actually memorized all my vocabulary throughout the, you know, all the, the, the text that we, that we done until then. So yeah, definitely. I mean, there's no point in just trying to finish the book to say Masha'Allah and come back to it. Yeah. Okay, so throughout, throughout learning the Arabic language, how many, how moments did you have? Yeah, I, I, I read that question and I was a bit confused. Really? What you meant by, uh-huh. I think it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a way of speaking in, in, in America.  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if you guys think this much in, in the UK. No, not really. Yeah. So do you have any light up, light up moment where you was like, oh, it's Masha'Allah.  Oh, I understand. And many times it doesn't happen to you that you be like, okay, now understand this and this and understand all of this that I didn't understand back then. Yeah, no, exactly. You understand one concept and it opens you up to this entire, you know, science. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, definitely. So that was the first one. This, this is why as you said, as you said, it's really important that the first month, you actually realize that you will struggle for at least I would say four months into this method. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then it will be, it will be, it will be nice after that. Okay, so the first six months in Egypt with those first two teachers, it was, it was hard. It was to study the language. It was, it was difficult because six months go by and you haven't made like much progress at all. And you're thinking, you're thinking, I really hope that my whole year doesn't turn out like this. But then it's like an exponential graph that you start off really slow, but then it goes up and up and up and then it starts going up like that. At one point it just blows up because you understand all of the concepts and it's just about memorizing I would say. Yeah. Okay, so do you enjoy, I mean, I think you only did private classes, but do you ever try group classes? Not for Arabic. I attended a few group classes for, for Tafseed and for Fiqh, but not many sessions. So I don't, I didn't really have any experience at all with group sessions. Oh, okay. So I believe you, I mean, is there any, any reason why you decided to take a private teacher instead of going to America's or taking a group class? Yeah. I mean, in my building, the brothers were about 50-50, 50% of them went to Marca's, 50% of them had private teachers. And I would hear the pros and cons from both of them. The advantages from having group classes is that you have other people, maybe 10 people in your class that you can speak with. But, but in term, in my situation, I had a replacement for that because my teacher was very good with conversational skills. So, so I wasn't missing out on that on that aspect of the group sessions. And with the private sessions, I just found that the one-to-one learning, you get a lot more out of your lesson. If you have three hours of one-to-one with your teacher, you know, have a couple of breaks in that lesson. But, and you have a total control over what's being done in that lesson. I don't have experience in group lessons, but I was thinking maybe in a group lesson, the teacher's going to maybe be focused for 20 minutes on this student and then the next student and then the next student. Yeah. That's what happens. Yeah. It happens a lot. And mainly if you are, I mean people, they have different intentions and they have different levels in terms of learning and how fast they can learn something and understand something as well. And many times it happened to me like I did try both, both in the beginning I did group class for like three months. And yeah, it was in the beginning is good, you know, because you, you know, you get to have that conversation and at the same time it's not too boring. But then once you have that aha moment, as you said, and you start to understand all of this concept and what you should do now in order to literally just, you know, sprint. Then I was like, okay, let me just take a private teacher. Because many times I believe that, you know, you might not relate to this, but having different languages in your brain, it does allow you to understand mainly Spanish because it was, you know, the Arabs and Muslims for 800 years in Spain. So we have a lot of words that comes from Arabic. And so many words and vocabulary was easy for me to understand and pick up, but other brothers, they were like, we were Spain. And obviously the teacher, he doesn't speak Arabic, he doesn't speak English.  Yeah, I could relate to that to like a very small extent because of the older and Arab, because a lot of the words the teacher would say it, or even some of the verbs. The teacher would say it and I would think, I know that word already. It was one of those moments. Definitely. So what do you think was the hardest part of learning Arabic? Not being distracted. No. That's the hardest thing. What kind of distractions do you have? Oh, chilling with the bros, man. Like, if you're in Nassau city, then you know, city stars, city stars, the local mall. It's very easy, especially with we had a building of like 30 English brothers. All of us speak English and all of us are the same age and all of us, you know, we can chill. So it's so easy. It's so easy to get distracted and say, okay, forget homework today. We're going out to the restaurant. It's so easy to, we're going to the juice bar. You know, No. No. So how do you get distracted? Yeah, I think when you're married, it's different than when you. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, because imagine you're with 30 brothers unmarried. You know, you're all the same age. You're all chilling. Yeah. It's easy. I remember, I mean, the first three months I was in Egypt, I was with brothers, living with brothers. I completely hated it.  Like, for example, you cannot step in here without your sandals. You can't step here. You know, I'm exactly the same. I'm exactly the same. So yeah, I'm exactly the same way in my flat. There was there was three brothers. But in the in the 12 in the about the 1415 months that I was there, you know, the people that my flatmates changed over a few times. And I would, you know, someone someone would be leaving and then someone would take his place. And someone would recommend this brother. Oh, yeah, this brother's this brother's clean and this brother is a very good character. But then they come to the flat and it's not what you're expecting at all. You know, the bathroom's always in a tip and the kitchen's always got dirty dishes in the sink. And you know, the tiles are always dirty. He never mocks. He never hoovers. He never does it. You know, it might sound like we're just complaining, but it makes a big difference to the environment that you're learning in, especially if you're especially if your teacher's coming to your flat. Yeah. You need you need a clean place.  And you know, leftover chicken boxes on the table. It's many like lion in the whole apartment. Do you have your own room at least? Yeah. No, we had a while. I lived in Menteca Thamina. Okay. It wasn't really Hayat Thamin. And it wasn't really Hail Ashil. It was in the middle. Yeah. So no, we had a good flat three. We had three rooms and a big living room. So we had one bedroom each. Yeah.  Like, like me sometimes, for example, if I'm doing something, I'm not going to wash the dishes right now. I'm just going to leave them there. Even if there's 15 of them and finish my stuff. And then, but you know, when you live with other brothers, it's hard to adapt to everyone's daily habits. You know what I mean? Yeah. Absolutely. So, so the last two questions, the first one is how of an impact has had the learning the Arabic language right now in your life? And how is your life different? Oh, it's like light. It's like night and day, man. It's from from going as the example that I gave about praying, you're standing behind the Imam praying and you don't understand the word that he's saying. And changing that into a situation where you're praying behind him and you understand 90% of what he's saying. It makes a massive difference. The connection between you and the Quran and you and Allah and your Imam is just an experience that you can't get anywhere else. No, definitely. And what would your advice be for someone that acknowledges the importance of learning the Arabic language? However, he didn't start yet for whatever reason.  I actually, one of the brothers who's, you know, he works with the Quran markers. Yeah, he gave me a call yesterday.  And I said, you know, I've been struggling a bit. I haven't really, you know, kept up with my hip. And he said, there's nothing holding you back. If you if you if you plan to make a plan to make a plan, you're never going to get around to it. Just make the plan now. Make your plan to stop. And that's exactly the same with the Arabic with Arabic within the past year and two years and three years. There's been so many teachers from Egypt that have have taken up the platform to teach online. No. Yeah, there's so many teachers now. There's so many teachers. And I think that our lives might be busy in the Western world, but all of us can take out even an hour a week. All of us take our hour a week to have a lesson. And even if the an hour a week, it's not a lot. It's not a lot at all. But at least there's something. So for all you know, you could start with an hour a week.  So I'm going to up it to one hour every three days, then one hour every day. And then it's going to develop to a stage where, you know, a year down the line, two years down the line, you might decide, okay, it's time for me to go abroad and study full time. No, definitely, definitely. Yeah, that's a very good advice, man. I think that everyone, I mean, it's one of the reasons why, you know, under Andalus Institute, we focus on teaching people online. And, you know, by the way, I just want to let people know if they're actually interested by learning the Arabic language to check out the link we have in the description where I share with you guys my case study, basically, of how I went from zero to fluent in Arabic in 10 months with one single book and one hour per day. And that single book is Arabic, I think. So, yeah, I highly recommend them to check that out if they are looking to start as soon as possible. And yeah, thank you very much, man. No. I'll see that. We'll see. For your time and sharing this story with us. And there's many things that we can say about, you know, studying the Arabic language and mainly studying the Arabic language in Egypt. But, you know, we have limited time. So sorry for the viewers. And I would recommend them to subscribe to the channel for the upcoming different how I learn stories, how I learn Arabic stories. And, yeah, we'll conclude with this and we'll finish the interview. So, it's zaqabullah khair. Ya, Zafir. Wassalamu alaikum. Wa Rahmatullah. Wa Rahmatullah. Wa Rahmatullah. Wa Rahmatullah. Wa Rahmatullah.


I am Lee Snellgrove, I am the chair of the Parks Foundation Board, so it's my job to welcome you all here tonight on behalf of the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Foundation. And I would like to say that it's an honor to be here with you all to celebrate someone that the SB Nation called the perfect basketball superstar for the modern era. So it's also my job to offer a few thank yous that made this event and this evening possible so we could celebrate. So first of all I'd like to thank Mayor Rickerman and City Council. We have Councilman Howard Duvall, Councilwoman Audity Bussells, and Councilman Alak Tyler Bailey that are joining us tonight, so thank you for being here and all your support. Thank City Manager Teresa Wilson and her staff are here and we want to thank them. Chief Holbrook and Chief Jenkins are here, so thank you. I'd really like to send a huge thank you to all the City staff that help the Parks Foundation constantly, definitely a lot of the Parks staff led by Henry Simons and Mr. Randy Davis. Thank you all. They're tremendous. We are very fortunate, we have a lot of Parks and that takes a lot of staff and they're really great staff. I want to recognize the board members of the Parks Foundation that are here tonight. So if you all, they're spread throughout the room in a lot of different places so make sure you catch them, but if you'll just raise your hand if you're a Parks Foundation board member. Thank you all that are here. Take a moment to thank our sponsors that made tonight possible. So our silver sponsors include Columbia SC 63, Grace Outdoor, the Manly Home Team, Patrick Patterson and Global Partners, and Cypher Public Finance. And then our bronze level sponsors Mr. Anthony Jackson, the Bailey Law Firm, Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Columbia Tennis League, they're having a good time, the Diabetes Free SC, Pivot Analysis, Representative Chris Hart, the Salmon Group at Morgan Stanley and Trane. And I'd also like to thank our DJ tonight, DJ Lady Marauder, who's been spending tunes for us and will do so after the program. I want to thank Iza Charles, who's over there doing a live painting for everybody to watch. Thank you to One-Eared Cow Glass, who made our lovely award that you see up here tonight. And I want to thank the Alumni Center staff for all their support through this. Also to Linda Torrell and Scott Garrick, who worked tirelessly with me to pull all this stuff together. So thank you to them. Thank you. So thank you to everybody that made this possible. So now I get to hand this off and not do any more jobs. To Columbia's favorite news anchor, a wonderful supporter of our community and a huge basketball fan, Judy Gadsden. Good evening, everybody. I am so excited, honored, delighted to be here with you all tonight, especially because it is in honor of our hometown girl. Listen, we got to get the energy amped up in here. Y'all got to be able to match my energy, and that is a lot. Y'all are in the room with not the one but the two-time WNBA champ. In addition to your incredible accomplishments on the court, what I admire, what so many people admire about you, are all of the things you do off the court. Things that you don't have to do, but they are things that have been instilled in you. From your parents, your grandparents, I know your grandmama is smiling down with so much pride. And so we are here tonight to say thank you for the countless lives that you are touching. I know when you drive out of basketball court, I know you like seeing the kids out there playing, but Asia, you'll never know.  The way God is going to continue to magnify and amplify it, that is what we are here to celebrate tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Asia Wilson. Well, listen, there's a lot that we have to celebrate tonight. We're going to get the party started by inviting Mayor Rickamon to come forward, and Mayor Rickamon, he knows what it takes to put in some work to make your dreams happen. He worked two jobs himself to save up and start his own business. He did a couple of stints on City Council before stepping up into the league role as mayor, and he is delighted to be here to help lead this celebration tonight. Please welcome our mayor, Daniel Rickamon. If you haven't seen Judy's shoes, she's beat all of you, by the way. Just saying. Good evening, everybody. All right, come on, get louder than that. Now, we're in Columbia, South Carolina, the number one city in South Carolina here to honor our favorite ambassador. And I say that truly. Asia Wilson has done more to draw attention to Columbia, South Carolina than any other individual. And she does it in so many different ways. Not only does she kill it on the court. She wins every accolade there is, but she gives back. And she gives back, and to be honest, so many people leave Columbia and they forget about Columbia. She doesn't forget where she came from. And she's constantly given back. I think Judy's way you said it, the ripple effect, is true. And that's why we're all here today. We have an incredible park system, 60 parks. We're investing more money in our parks today than we ever have in the history of the city. And we're doing it to prove the quality of life. And we're doing it under great leadership. Henry Simons, Randy Davis, Teresa Wilson, the entire city council, and we're doing it because we want everyone to have the quality of life that they should have no matter where you live. But we can't do it alone. And the investments and the give back that people give is so important. Asia, thank you for doing what you do. I truly, when I say we have an ambassador for the city of Columbia, it's this young lady right here. And I hope before the year's out, we're going to push it. When you pull up on Assembly Street, you're going to see a 30-foot Asia Wilson staring at you. We want to put that banner up there so everybody knows about how much he cares about our hometown, but how much we care about you, and thank you. I don't hold it against you that your father's Roscoe. You talk about somebody else who wants to give out. I know why Asia does it, because her parents are so caring. Her grandparents were so caring. There is a reason why, and we thank you for all of it. But I did want to take a minute to give you not only the key to the city if you'll come up. And we made a mini version for you so that you could take it back to Vegas and put it on your nightstand and look at it. Every night, I think the city is a great honor. But the city of Columbia has only done this three times. And what's in here is a set of coins from the bicentennial that were minted for the city of Columbia. And we've only given them three sets out. And Asia, you're the third set. We wanted something special for Asia. And this is special. From the 139,237 people that live in this city, thank you. Thank you so much for what you do, what you give back, and how much you continue to support this community. And let's see a three-peak. I'm definitely down with a three-peak. But for now, Asia, we're just going to say the three coins are for the father, the son, and the whole spirit. OK? Yeah, there we go. For the Trinity, OK? And it's a perfect segue for our next guest, because the Asia spirit has always been grounded in her faith. We are delighted to have with us tonight Reverend Dr. Jamie Ogram Sr. from St. John Baptist Church, her family's home church. And I tell you what, his love for preaching and the gospel. I know has served the Wilson family well in being grounded in their faith so many years in the way that they have raised their family and spirit. So please welcome Reverend Dr. Jamie Ogram Sr. here. I have only just a minute, exactly 60 seconds in it. Didn't seek it, didn't choose it, but it's up to me to use it. I must suffer my abuse of giving a count if I lose it. I have only just a minute, but eternity is in it. When I think about Asia Wilson, I think about a little girl being nurtured and developed in a faith community that was led by her grandfather and grandmother, the late Dr. Roscoe and LFC Wilson. As the new kid on the block, the new pastor some 20 years ago of that faith community, I watched her grow into an amazing and a phenomenal woman who is a force to reckon with both on and off the court. I've watched her grow from a not so sure if I want to play basketball to a hard-working, dedicated, and committed student and player of the game. And so now when I think about Asia Wilson, I think about the sermons that the Lord has allowed me to weave and integrate and include her story in as a relevant example of how God can take what the world would say a nobody, no name, average player, average person, and turn them into champions. When no one else saw the champion in her, her father and mother did, her grandmother, her grandparents did, her church family, and more importantly, God saw the champion in her. And just like God saw the champion in her, God sees the champion in each one of you. When I think about Asia Wilson, I think about another sermon that I preached that's called Born to Be a Baller. LeBron James is not the only one born to be a baller. Check out our home girl, Asia Wilson, who grew up right in St. John Baptist Church, raised off of Leesburg Road, Columbia, South Carolina. She was born to Eva and Roscoe C. Wilson, Jr., a former basketball player, basketball star, for Benedict College, and a nine-year professional player in Europe. So basketball was already in Asia's DNA. Asia was born to be a baller. Starting her basketball career in eighth grade, Asia went on to lead the Heathwood Hall girls to a basketball team, a state championship, her senior year. While overcoming the challenge of being dyslexic, Asia became the number one girls basketball player in the nation. She went on to USC, leading them to national title in 2017. Asia was born to be a baller. As if that was not enough, she becomes the number one draft pick, WNBA signing on with the Las Vegas Aces and earning a title of rookie of the year. She was born to be a baller. When I think about Asia Wilson, I think about one more message that I preach called, take your best shot. Like the property, Elijah encouraged King Joash to take his best shot. And like Roscoe and Eva Wilson and Dawn Staley and many others encouraged Asia to take her best shot. God has placed many people around you to encourage you to take your best shot. And guess what? Like Hamilton, Asia kept saying, I'm not throwing away my shot, shot. And yes, she proved that your best shot may not be your first or your second shot. But keep on shooting for your goals and your dreams and your aspirations until you make it. Like Asia Wilson, I just stopped by to tell you to take your best shot. I stopped by to encourage you to keep on shooting until you reach your goal.  Shoot until you try off. Shoot until you win the game. That's just what Asia Wilson did. In her senior year, she shot until she won the game. That's just what she did. In her senior year in Heathwood Hall, that state championship game, I could see it. It was just like yesterday. They were down by three, up against Northwoods. And her daddy said it was five seconds on the clock. I think it was about seven seconds on the clock. Asia goes down the court. Time is ticking. Clock is ticking out. She throws a three-pointer. And yes, it hit all net. She dropped 37 points in that game. And they won the state championship because she never stopped shooting until they won the game. And so the question is how bad do you want it? Asia Wilson said, I want it bad enough to drop 37 points in that final game. I want it bad enough to take the final shot in the few seconds to take it in the overtime. I want it bad enough to keep on shooting until we get the job done. In essence, Asia Wilson is saying, I'm not throwing away my shot, shot. She kept on shooting until USC won the NCAA championship in 2017. She kept on shooting until the Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA championship last year and did it again this year. Hallelujah. So somebody said, that's the Asia Wilson I know. And somebody said, I'm not throwing away my shot, shot. And so no, we're not going to throw away our shot. And we encourage you to keep on shooting until the victory's won. Congratulations, Asia. We're so proud of you. May God bless you. And may heaven smile upon you. Yes, you were born to be a baller. Well, I did not know y'all was going to get the baller shot call a sermon on Monday night. But y'all all invited the St. John on Sunday morning, OK? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. It is now my pleasure to introduce a woman who is truly on a mission to empower other women. She is elevating the WNBA by breaking all the rules, by setting new expectations in terms of equity, pay, and representation. She is a trailblazer in her own right. And she is making sure that there is always a brilliant shine on the Asia Wilson name, brand, and legacy. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the one and only, J. Lee Ingle. Well, stole my speech. So I'm just going to wing it. And I'm going to make it personal to me.  It's a long, long lasting impact that will ripple through time, honestly. Like I said, the Reverend and Judy stole my speech. So again, I'm just going to make it personal to me. And again, personal to women, I think that Asia changed the trajectory of women's sports, the trajectory of women's basketball if she would not have committed to come to South Carolina and be coached under Don Staley. I believe, and I'm just going to be petty, we still be talking about Connecticut. We still be talking about all these other teams and coaches that have also had their impact. But she changed history. She did. I will say that when I was not sure of what I wanted to do and what my legacy and impact would be, my parents were like, Jade, you should really, really just talk to Asia Wilson. She's killing it. She is the future. And she is. She's still the future. They said, Jade, I think that what she's doing is going to have a lasting impact. And here we are. Here we are. I'm just going to read these off because these are accolades that should not be diminished. And I'm only going to read a few. McDonald's All-American. She was the first game cock and really the one to bring a championship to the University of South Carolina. She did have teammates, obviously, but her commitment and passion to South Carolina really raised the stakes and made a difference. She was the most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament. She went on to be the number one draft fit, rookie of the year, an all-star in her rookie season, and has been an all-star ever since. That same year, she won gold with the women's national team to be the gold. She won MVP in 2020. And not many people know. I mean, 2020 was a hard year for all of us.  She's got it all. But then became a mental health advocate after that. She wrote her first essay for the player tribune, Dear Black Girl, which, plug, is now going to be a book. February 6th. Go get it. And then went on to win gold in Tokyo with the Olympic team. She was the MVP of that team, MVP of the FIBA gold medal team that won gold in 2021 as well. She should be on her third MVP, but we're not going to talk about that. But we'll take the championship and the finals that may be, exactly. We'll take that. We'll take that. But I think one of the most important things about Aida is who she is as a human being. And it's so funny, I was trying to figure out what to say today. Obviously, I could have said all the same things. But it's funny how things just come up on your Twitter feed. And her coach, Natalie Nakasa, said today, what stands out is that she is just a genuine person who is the best female athlete in basketball right now. And she is one of the best human beings I've ever met. And I can honestly say the same thing. One of the best human beings inspires me every day, inspires all of those around her every day.  How many Asia Halloween costumes did you guys see this year? That is Asia Wilson's impact. She never turns down an autograph. She never turns down a hug. And she is truly, truly making history. And she's not even done yet. She hasn't even scratched the surface. Y'all don't even know what's going on. No idea. But that's just Asia Wilson. Grateful for Yvonne Roscoe for raising such a lovely, lovely lady. And Ms. Henry Rakes-Wilkes as well. And as I said, there's really no way that I can actually quantify her impact. And it's still only to be seen. Anyone who knows her will say the same. Her teammates, her coaches. And I will end this with saying, we are here because Asia Wilson is the person who in every single contract that she has makes sure that there is a give back. And what is now Mountain Dew, well, was Mountain Dew, now Starrie, in that contract she said, I want to refurbish a court. And I want to do it in the community that I grew up. And here we are. But that's every single contract she has. And that's who Asia Wilson is. So I would like to end this with saying, thank you to Lee Snellbro. May I recommend Linda Toro, who probably is so annoyed with me. Henry Simons, Scott Garrett. And I'm sure I'm missing a few. But thank you guys all for being here. Thank you, Asia, for being here. I'm not going to take up any more of your time. I'll sniffle all over your microphones. And you know, it speaks volumes. Because Jay represents a type of people that Asia surrounds herself with. Authenticity, that's what I think about when I think about Asia Wilson. And I do want to add one accolade to Jay's very long and impressive list. Asia's bat of ruffles of the ridges, the barbecue smoky, definitely the best bat of Asia. Definitely the best bat. Mama knows all over Colombia looking for the Asia batting. I really was. All right, everyone, speaking of being in her bag, there is a wonderful video tribute, recognizing Asia's incredible impact on our community. If you would please direct your attention to the screens. Colombia's number one always in my heart. That's home, no matter what. I know I live in Vegas. But I never lose sight of where I come from. And Colombia's done. The state of South Carolina has done so much for me. A collaborative effort like this large-scale effort wouldn't happen. And it wouldn't happen today if it wasn't for Asia's support. This donation, this right here, allows the city to be able to do even more. Because now this is done. And it's something we always wanted to do, so we can focus resources to continue to make Hyatt Park and this community even better. Once this court dedication was done, and she was able to come back home, this was one of the places that she wanted to drive by to see how it was impacting. At that time, there were actually people playing on the court. So she really felt really, really good about it. And so she's like, that's what I wanted it to do. Bring people outside. Bring people out in the community to show that we're still here. We're still here. I mean, we have people all around this neighborhood who know Asia's grandparents. They know what they did for this community. And for her to come back and continue those legacy, living that legacy, it's just wonderful. It's just great. I'm all about what can we do better? How can we grow better as just people and even as players? So I can't thank enough for everyone. I mean, this court is beautiful. When we were taking pictures, it was just like, you got to see the wings that I look. And it's wings like this so big, especially in this community, because my parents, my grandparents did not live too far from here. So to come back and to give back, it's huge to me. To give the young generation an opportunity to be the next Asia Wilson, the next LeBron James, the next whoever you want to name. And that's where it all goes. I love to see it come to life. This is going to be probably my baby.  So thank you. Can't thank y'all enough. I know I said that so many times, but no, I am truly grateful and blessed to be able to have this in our community and bring it to life. She has a feel for what kids go through because she went through it. So it draws a little closer to whether it be the parks, whether it be indoor or outdoor. So I think it's her inner beauty that makes that go. She played basketball and sports through parks. And I think she got a feel for what it did for kids. Anything that can contribute to a kid's development and growth, she's going to be a part of it. So I think that's where it kind of caught on. And I remember even in here, and in some other parks where she played, you know, a rec league basketball. Roscoe and I worked some time ago for the city of Columbia at Drew Parpool as it was there. She was there while we were working part-time on the weekends. And also as far as Greenview Park is concerned, Asia took tennis lessons from Domino Bullware for years, he and his wife, Jackie. So she has always been involved in the community by way of the city of Columbia Parks and Recreation. From one homegrown girl to another, I am so proud of you. I've watched you grow up and all the accolades you have are meaningful, well-deserved, but honestly for me, it's when I see your confidence and your grace and character instilled by the two people on both sides of you, my friends Eva and Roscoe, it makes it mean everything. It's your grace. It's what you learn from your parents about giving back and being part of the community is probably the top. That's a hall of famer for me and thank you for being part of our community. Thank you for remembering Columbia, South Carolina, even though you love being in Vegas, we love you back here. You may be number 22 on the court, but you're number one in our hearts and we appreciate it all that you're here and you're doing what you're doing. She knows where she came from. She knows where she's trying to get to. And what she wants to do is bring people along with her. That's really what she wants. She wants to impact the lives of the youth here in Columbia as best she can. I am proud. I'm extremely proud. I am overjoyed, but more so I'm blessed. Asia's a blessing to God. I tell everybody, Asia's a blessing to God. I'm just trying to stay out of the way and let him work. But I'm very proud of her. She's accomplished everything she set out to accomplish. Hey, Asia, welcome.  Every time I turn around, it's Asia this, Asia that, Asia wins this, Asia wins that. You are so deserving. So I want to shout you out because the park is in Rex. Right here in the city of Columbia is recognizing you for your long list of achievements so it's harvest time, collect your things, Asia. The city of Columbia for their support and Eva and Roscoe, it's always great to hear from you all. I mean, just as you, your pride and joy and all that you've afforded to Asia and to see the way that it's now blessing so many others. It is now my pleasure to welcome a municipal trailblazer, city manager, Theresa Wilson leads the executive team for South Carolina's capital city of course and is taking the city operations to the next level. So we want to welcome her to celebrate Asia Wilson as well. Please give her a warm welcome. Jade said, how do I follow past for Graham and Judy? How do I follow all of them? Jade is so right and excuse my voice, Asia. I love you because I have had flu light symptoms the last week and this is, I was working virtually but we weren't gonna miss this girl. I had to come with a voice cracking or whatever. So bear with me. And some of the things have been said that I wanted to say but I'm gonna carry on the theme and delve into it a little bit deeper. And I'm gonna ask Roscoe and Eva and Pastor Graham to help me out a little bit because there's some connections here. And I said it on the video, I mean that sincerely, you know when you're a homegrown girl, what that means. And when you are raised by a village, what that means. So back in the sixties and seventies in Columbia at Benedict College. So a lot of these Benedict Tigers are in the house. Help me out, help me out. My mother and father were there on the yard as I said with your daddy. And some others like Miss Mary and Cohen I see here, former councilman Sam Davis. I better not start calling out people. Your church member, Mr. Donald Giz, Dr. Lonnie Randolph, people who have gone on my parents, Dr. and Mrs. Steven Trisbell. So let me say their names to do things in their own right. While they were there though, and becoming young men and women to later have influences in their own spheres, they were nurtured by the church communities in Columbia like St. John Baptist Church and First Nazareth Baptist Church and Bethlehem Baptist Church. But not only as has been previously stated that your grandfather had influenced Pastor Roscoe Wilson, senior, but as my mother told me to say tonight, Ma Wilson, Miss Ethel Wilson, your grandmother was religious studies professor, correct Roscoe? And was watching over all of them. My mother told me that her presence was something magnificent on the campus of Benedict College for not only the young women to build character and grace and poise, but also for the men on campus. When we now grow up and we look back at why we do what we do and where we pull deep from is that fabric. So when your mom and dad were off working and doing their things, the grandparents were there. I know as a young girl, when my parents were starting their careers, it was the grandmothers who were at the home front, the children were left with them and they were disciplining, braiding or plaiting my hair, fixing the food and making sure we were straight.  And like my grandparents up in little old Blair Fairfield County, South Carolina, they could not be more proud of what we've become. The reason why I know, I think, that sometimes when it gets really hard doing the work that we do and the jobs that we do, and when you are having a long practice or when you're in the pain and people being aggressive with you, girl, you pull from that inner strength. You might not be thinking about it right there and then, but it's got to have come from somewhere.  I really, I really believe that and that purpose, I think that was instilled when we weren't even thinking about it long time ago. So bringing it back around to see you wanna restore two basketball courts at Hyatt Park, I mean, it's a no-brainer for you because it's within you. It has been within you to do that because you have only seen that done, that commitment, that service done by your grandparents and your parents. I think where we find ourselves and the reason it's so important in our community now is that unfortunately we are being, we're having a stand in the gap because that village isn't always there anymore for some of our children, our young children, our brown and black boys and girls who need that level of support and I'm gonna say that because I own that and I feel like it's within us in our roles to do what we can do and you're doing that and you don't have to do anymore than just do what you're doing. I tell my staff all the time, don't try to be something you're not, just be great at what you're doing and show excellence with what you do because they are watching us. So all you got to do, girl, is just keep on doing what you're doing. We got you, that athleticism, that beauty, that poise, that confidence, that smile, that dance and spirit, that style, the candles, the entrepreneurial spirit. Keep your parents, your village, your church community. Jay, the people who know you, you can count it probably one hand and I say that a lot of times. Keep them close to you and just keep letting your light shine. We love you, we celebrate you and we are about to celebrate you in another way and show this community how inspired we are by you because it brings our community joy. When my mother and father were watching the game yesterday because they couldn't be there, they kept calling it was like I can't watch the game because I keep calling it. You see what Malaysia did? You see what Ashland's doing. So two more homegrown girls who are that next class of Gamecock greatness and to see the Gamecock royalty in the house yesterday celebrating your former teammate, Tiffany and letting her light shine but you celebrated her. It means so much and it brings our community joy. We don't always have things to be so excited and happy about all the time but just to be happy and joyous to watch what Dawn really has created and what you have carried on and these other women are doing is exceptional. With that, I want to ask and I recommend and Mr. Simons, Lee Smellbro, I think is this the time to do the unveiling? Okay. So we are, we're going to ask them to join and connect on the stage, I believe as we have this unveiling and a presentation of the legacy award. The Simley Street South where everybody can see it, it is there now, it is dropped and lowered and Henry, do you need to add anything about that? Come on Henry now, you know you can make this happen. Come on Henry. Thank you all, number one so much for being here and this is just fitting for you Asia. I'm also from Hopkins, South Carolina and what we wanted to accomplish through Mayor Rick and his leadership, our city manager and others in this room, we wanted to make sure that you're special and you could have went anywhere else in this country to play the game of basketball, but you decided to stay here in your hometown and give us what we all deserve and for that we are grateful and you have a 50 by 36 ban out that represents how we feel about you. So again, congratulations to you. And you've got the keys and you've got the coins and you've got the banner and now we get to add to that harvest with this legacy award, so come on up. Yeah. So much to everyone in this room, thank you so much for coming out this evening. Like I said, you guys could be anywhere but you decided to be here with me today. This is truly something special and I'm trying not to get choked up but here I go. I got a lot of bad looks when I didn't choose other schools, when it came to deciding to stay here in South Carolina. And it was something that didn't really matter to me because I knew how much this state, how much this city has done so much for me and for me to leave would be crazy. And it just didn't make sense to me and I'm so happy, I'm so thankful that I was able to stay. I never would have thought that a young girl that hated to sweat would be absolutely hate sweat but I still hate it to this day that now I sweat for a living and I never would have thought I would be able to say that I would be accepting this legacy award here. Just got to thank everyone, I got my thank you notes. Just obviously the city of Columbia for doing this for me, mayor, honestly thank you so much. Everyone in between, Co-Dominant Jackie, my tennis player. Yeah, I had to give up tennis because it was outdoors for it and I don't like to sweat. But no, I knew there was like, oh my gosh, my childhood is all coming back and this is the reason why I stay. This is the reason why I love to come back because the city has done so much, the state has done so much for me. So if I could repay it in any type of way I'm all down for it, especially if it's involving young people, children, anyone in between, because they are our future. They are the ones that have the key, the real key to the city to be able to flourish and grow. So for me to do that, it's been incredible. My family, my village is here. Thank you guys so much for always being by my side. Y'all have been there through the thunderstorms and the sun shines and everything in between. To my crazy parents, where do I start with you guys? I mean, Teresa said, boys, I was like, mama, are you sure we're talking about you? No, but no, thank you so much for pushing me. Thank you so much for the sacrifice that you guys have just put forward to be able for me to be able to stand up here and to speak honestly, to speak. Thank you so much for dialing in to me, pouring. I know that cup is overflowing, but you guys continue to pour into me. And I think that's just the message that I want to leave here tonight, is pouring to someone else. That cup, we all have that cup and it's halfway full, have to empty, however you guys want to look at it, but pouring to someone else, because you never know who needs it. And we all need it, all needed. We really do. And when it comes to just our mental and what we do every single day, we're living, we're living and we're alive and we're grateful and I'm blessed. And we all are blessed. So if you have any chance to pour into someone else, to give to someone else, do that. And I promise your cup's gonna fill up and that's what it's all about. And I'm just truly grateful. I'm not trying to take it all the time in the world, but I'm truly grateful. And when it comes to this state, when it comes to the city and everything in between, I'm gonna give it my all. I remember my mom was, I don't know, it was a good word to say, harassing me, all playoffs, because she's like, hey, you gotta do this voiceover for this church. This church needs you. You know, Reverend Graham's saying you gotta do this voiceover for the radio. I'm like, it's game two in the finals, mom. And I'm like, come on, like, I got to do this. She's like, Aisha, you gotta do your voiceover, you gotta do this. And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do it. So after game three, I'm like, all right, let me go ahead and do this real quick. And it's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer when it comes to just giving back to the city because it has done so much for me.  I think this was my first time actually seeing the statue in about two years. I was just kind of weird for me to see myself. But no, we drove past there today and it's just an honor and I'm so blessed. I am really, really blessed to be able to stand up here and accept this award from people in a state, in a city that has poured so much into me. And a lot of people, they see how to get in Nevada driving my sojourn, I'm sorry. Taxes are tied right down to my pocket. But every time they see the lights and they're like, oh, you're from Nevada, I'm like, absolutely not. I am from South Carolina, home of the Game Cards. So no matter where I am in the world, no matter where I am in this country, they're always gonna say South Carolina first before they say anything. And that's the pride that I wear on my heart every single day. And I love that I'm a Carolina girl through and through the Southern Belt. My accent's starting to come out a little bit.  And I'm grateful for this award. So thank you, thank you, thank you so much. And my best friends here, are y'all there? Award. Let's hear it one more time at, like, Asia, by the way. I love her championship celebrations, okay? Aija Charles, where is Aija? Don't let everybody see it, Aija. I want you to walk up and do a big reveal on stage. She did a live painting tonight. And talk about excellence and just being so exceptional at your craft and using your gift to bless others. So appropriate to have Aija here in the same state of that legacy that we're celebrating with Aija tonight. So we will have her on the count of three. One, two, three. Check it out, y'all. Aija, Aija sat down. Aija and Aija, how about that? She painted that live here tonight, Aija. Incredible, let's give it. Oh my goodness, thank you. I'm not exactly one of my own. Is that not incredible? Thank you for sharing your blessings. You were good, but that's all right. And then the incredible Aija Charles. Some great events coming up around the city, but she is a blessing and a jewel of our community as well. It is time to close out the evening. What an evening it has been. Have you all enjoyed the legacy celebration with Aija Wilson? Aija, before we leave tonight, we started by inviting the spirit into this room, and that's how I wanna close it out as well. Psalms 145, one and seven, just talks about greatness in the Lord, right? I will proclaim your greatness, my God and my King. I will thank you forever and ever. Every day I will thank you. I will praise you forever and ever. The Lord is great and is to be highly praised. His greatness is beyond understanding. And this is a part of the scripture that I just wanna pray over you, Aija. What you have done will be praised for one generation to the next. They will proclaim your mighty acts. They will speak of your glory and majesty and meditate on your wonderful deeds. People will speak of your mighty deeds and proclaim your greatness. They will tell about your goodness and sing about your kindness. Aija Wilson, continue to let God's glory and majesty shine brilliantly through you. We congratulate you on your legacy award and your contributions and everything that is still to come. Ladies and gentlemen, Aija Wilson!


Hello, we're at the AdiTechX show and I'm at the booth of FocalSpec and I'm here with Sana, nice to meet you, thank you for coming. Nice to meet you. What do FocalSpec do? So FocalSpec builds LCI sensors and scanners, 3D linecon focal scanners. And the beauty of our technology, which is unique, is that we are able to combine 3D tomography, 3D tomography and also 2D intensity imaging into a one sensor. Right. And so what sort of organisations use this? Our main industry area that we are serving is consumer electronics and especially mobile industry. And then in addition to that we have very good applications like a printed and flexible electronics. And that is due to the fact that our sensors are able to measure all the surfaces, including clear materials and mirror shiny materials. Okay, what sort of materials can they work with or does that not matter? Could it be organic and inorganic materials and different structures of devices? Well, a few examples, 3D curved glass of mobile phones. There we can measure the 3D dimensions of the glass, surface roughness and then of course the dimensions, thickness, gap and offset type of measurements. Can you tell us a bit about what this screen is showing here? Okay, so here what we have been scanning, we have here printed electronics. So what we are able to see is on a submicron accuracy, actually the accuracy goes up to 100 nanometers and the measurement is pretty fast. Our sensors are able to measure over a 5000 hertz meaning that in this one measurement line, if I may show to you a bit more clearly. So here in the measurement line we have over 2000 measurement points. So we are able to measure a bit over 10 million 3D points per second. And as I said here in the picture, thank you Joha, that we are, I could have, so here. I'm scanning the monitor here. Yes, so now the scanner is making the actual scanning. And soon I'm able to show you the 3D topographic image of the printed electronics over here. And did you say it works on flexible substrates as well as rigid substrates like glass? Correct, correct. Okay, and what is the speed at which you can scan an area? Presumably that depends on the resolution that you're scanning, but what would be typical? It is a say that it is not actually that much related to the resolution, but it's then the depth of view. Meaning that if we are able to place the scanned surface very rigidly, then we are still there in the 100 nanometer level. This scanner here, if we take an example of mobile phone, we are able to measure that in tens of seconds. Then again in inline applications for the sensor, the maximum measurement speed is 5000 Hz, depending on the application. So pretty accurate and pretty fast. Yes, yeah. Oh, very interesting. So here, alright, and here we have the 3D profile now of the scanned area. How is it scanning the height? So the technology, a confocal line imaging means that we are spreading the white light into all colors, all the wavelengths. And the wavelength or the color that is in focus with the surface is then measured back. And that means that we don't have to adjust the height, but the differences between the shape of the topography comes with the one scan. And what are the typical thicknesses that you can measure down to? The measurement is optical, so when it comes to thickness measurement of a clear material, it's somewhere in a 30 micron. Having said that, then that means that we are measuring the upper layer and then the bottom layer of that clear material. Supposing I'm able to measure as a step height, meaning that I have the clear substrate on top of which I then have the component. The step height is still there in 100 nanometer after us. Okay, fantastic. Thank you very much. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Great. And thanks for exhibiting with us. May I ask what you thought of the show so far? It's been very good for us and it has been a pleasure to meet the old and also hopefully the new customers. Great. Thank you very much, Summer. Thank you.


This video is called Factoring When A Equals 1. A in this case is the number or the coefficient in front of the X squared. So when A equals 1 there's really an implied 1 here. So now to factor something like this, the first thing you'll ask yourself is can I take out a GCF? So you'll look and see well nothing can divide out of 1, 7 and 12 that's bigger than 1 and I can't take out an X because I've got X's in this term. I've got an X in this term but I don't have anything here. So finding out that, so taking out a GCF won't help me much at this point. So what I'd like to do is ask myself what multiplies to give me 12 and adds to give me 7. So let's make a list of things that multiply to give me 12. I've got 12 in 1, 6 in 2, 4 in 3. So those combinations multiply to give me 12. Do any of them work to add to give me 7? Well 12 plus 1, there's no way that could add or subtract to give me 7. How about 6 and 2? I don't think there's any way that those could add or subtract to give me 7. But if I have a positive 4 and a positive 3, those will add to give me 7 and multiply to give me 12. So what I'm going to do is factor this into two binomials where the 4 and the 3 go in the second slots each. Now I have to spend a second and make sure that 1 X squared, that could be broken, oops sorry, that could be broken down to X and X. So I'll put the X and X in my first slots. We decided the 4 and 3's were positive so that would be my factored answer. Now let's go ahead and check our answers.  When you combine those like terms in the middle, you get back to where you started. So this gets us back to the beginning so we know that we factored correctly where the quantity of X plus 4 times the quantity of X plus 3 is our factored answer. Let's try three more. So this one, G squared plus 7G plus 10, we know we can't take out a GCF because I don't have a G in all three terms. Remember there's an implied one here, I can't divide out anything bigger than a one so there is no GCF to take out. So let's start by thinking what multiplies to give me 10 a positive 10 and adds to give me a positive 7. We'll start by making a list, what could multiply to give me 10? The only ones I can think of are 10 and 1 or 5 and 2. Is there any way that 10 and 1 could add to give me a positive 7? I don't think so, but there is a way if 5 is positive and 2 is positive that can add to a positive 7 and multiply to a positive 10. So it's time to make my parentheses. The G squared can break up to G and G and then I'll put a plus 5 and a plus 2. Now you have another option of how you'd want to write this. If you wanted to put the plus 2 first and the plus 5 second that would be fine. Either of those answers would be considered appropriate and correct. D squared minus 17 D plus 42. So again ask yourself can I pull out a GCF? I don't think I can because I don't have a D in all three terms and since there's a 1 here there's nothing I can divide out that's bigger than a 1. So start asking yourself what multiplies to give you a positive 42 and adds to give you a negative 17. Well you'd have 42 times 1 7 times 6 gives you 42 21 times 2 gives you 42 and so does 14 times 3. So we need to pick which one will add to a negative 17. Well I don't think 42 and 1 there's any way to add to negative 17. 7 and 6 that would get me to like a 13 or negative 13 not quite enough. 21 and 2 would only get me to a 23 or a 19 but I see it. 14 and 3. Now here's the thing a positive 14 and a positive 3 would give me a positive 17. I need a negative 17 so a negative 14 plus a negative 3 that's what adds to a negative 17 and multiplies to a positive 42 because negative 14 times negative 3 is positive 42. Negative 14 plus a negative 3 is negative 17. So there is our choice. So make your parentheses. The d squared becomes d and d and you can put a negative 14 and a negative 3 in the slots. Remember it'd be okay if you reverse these and had the negative 3 over here the negative 14 over there. So this would be your factored answer. M squared plus 6m minus 27. I can't take out a GCF because I don't have a letter in all three terms and I can't take out any numbers because this term the biggest one is the biggest number the number I have is 1. Sorry about that. So immediately start asking yourself what multiplies to give you negative 27 and adds to give you 6. So make a list of the factors of 27. What could multiply? All I can think of is 27 and 1 and 9 and 3. Well 27 and 1 there's no way that that can add up to a positive 6 but is there any way 9 and 3 could add up to a positive 6? There is a positive 9 and a negative 3.  So I found my solution. Sorry about that. Got excited. We make our parentheses. The m squared becomes m and m and I'm going to go ahead and put the positive 9 here and the minus 3 here that would be my answer and I am I think this time going to check just to make sure I did everything correct.  So you end up with m squared plus 6m minus 27. Ask yourself is that where we started? Sure enough m squared plus 6m minus 27. I really would highly encourage you to do this extra work down here when you're doing problems like this especially on a quiz or a test because it just confirms if you got things right or wrong. And I'll tell you it's very easy to mix up where the positives go and where the negatives go and lots of students goof the sign part up. But by taking the time to do this work by getting back to your original answer you know you did your positive and negatives correct. If you don't get back to the original that tells you something's probably wrong with those positive and negatives and it's worth a second look if you want to get the answer right. Happy Factory!