First Person Perspective: Speaker Series Featuring Wajahat Ali

written by former ASCO intern, Maddie Arbaugh

ASCO launched its Eye on Diversity Speaker Series late last year and I am happy I was able to watch Mr. Ali’s presentation live.

Writer and speaker, Wajahat Ali, spoke on his experience growing up Muslim-American and the impact that this has had on his life, focusing particularly on the distrust and discrimination that the Muslim community was faced with during the time of 9/11. This topic was very interesting because it allowed me to see from a different perspective than my own and that of many others that have not had this kind of experience.

I felt uncomfortable hearing about the kind of discrimination that Ali faced because of his religious identity growing up. However, it was important to learn about this in order to understand and become more aware of this issue.

I liked how he incorporated humor and sarcasm into his talk. I felt that this kept the talk more light-hearted and also made me feel more comfortable when he would get into the discussion of some difficult issues.

Ali’s presentation was the first of six presentations offered. This series allows us to learn more about diversity-related topics, is very informative and has allowed me to see from new perspectives that I had not been able to before. 

Check out Wajahat Ali’s presentation here. Note, this presentation is ONLY available through 4/30/23.