STUDENT V ICE
THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE CENTER • FES
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The Key to Happiness
Zineb Nmili
Advanced 3
When we were young, we were prob-
ably asked what we wanted to be when we
grew up. What’s odd is that almost all of
us either answered that we wanted to be
doctors, architects, cops, or teachers. Since
we were young, we have related our lives to
our future jobs. We have thought that life
won't be complete if we don't get a well-
paying job, but is this the meaning of life?
Arnold Schwarzenegger once said,
“The meaning of life is not simply to exist,
to survive, but to move ahead, to achieve,
to conquer.” Therefore, by moving ahead,
trying new things, and risking, we give our
lives their true meaning, which is happi-
ness. Happiness is a choice. We will cer-
tainly face stress in our lives, but it’s up to
us whether we let it affect us or not. So
to be a happy, grateful person, I suggest
this advice, which I personally consider the
keys to happiness.
1. Avoid complaining. A com-
plainer usually sees the glass as half empty
and focuses only on negative things that are
usually small. As a result, the complainer
starts thinking that everything goes against
his wishes and becomes a pessimist.
2. Avoid judging. In spite of our
efforts, we can never stop ourselves from
judging others. What a lot of people ignore
is that when judging others, we're mainly
judging ourselves. So, let’s stop judging
others and start by educating ourselves be-
fore looking into others’ mistakes or nega-
tive qualities.
3. Avoiding comparing yourself to
others. Once Albert Einstein said, “Ev-
erybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish
by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its
whole life believing it’s stupid.” We are all
different, so there is no point comparing
ourselves to others or wanting to reach their
level. Each human being has different skills
and abilities; by trying to resemble others,
we just ruin this difference.
4. Don’t fear your problems. Face
Volume X, Issue I • September & October 2018
them. Anyone can run away; it’s the easi-
est thing to do. But facing your problems
is the thing that makes you strong. We
have to think of many ways that can help
us get through them and learn from every
problem we have experienced because we
cannot solve our problems with the same
thinking that we used when we created
them.
5. Maintain strong relationships
with your family and make real friend-
ships. Relatives and friends are people we
can count on and trust; they are people
who accept us for who we are and help us
to become who we should be. They are
the most precious gift from God, and we
should never let them go.
I think that the day we will all be hap-
py is the day we simply answer yes with no
hesitation to the following questions:
• Is this the best I can do?
• Is this the life I want to live?
• Am I the person I want to love?
• Am I the person I want to be?
teacher interview
2 • September & October 2018
An Interview with Melyssa
Student Voice: Where are you from?
Melyssa Reynolds: Seattle, Washington.
SV: When did you first come to Morocco?
MR: 2003. I've been here off and on since
that time.
SV: Why did you choose to move to Fez?
MR: I had been teaching English for a few
years in Japan and the U.S. and was inter-
ested in Morocco in general. I had been
studying ceramics and pottery making
in Japan and the U.S. and chose Fes after
reading about the traditional cobalt blue
ceramics the region is known for. After ar-
riving in Fes, I started an apprenticeship at
a ceramics studio in Ain Naqqbi, just out-
side Fes.
SV: Tell us about your life as a student.
Where did you study? What did you study?
MR: I earned my B.A. at the University
of Washington where I double majored in
comparative religion and sociology. Several
years later, I earned my M.A. in TESOL-
Applied Linguistics (Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages) at the Ameri-
can University in Cairo.
SV: How long have you been teaching at the
ALC?
MR: I taught here from 2003–2005 and
again from 2008–2009. I returned to the
ALC last summer.
SV: How long have you been a teacher in life?
MR: Since college — I started teaching
English and U.S. citizenship classes as a
volunteer during college.
SV: When did you decide to become a teach-
er? Why did you choose teaching?
MR: I first discovered I loved teaching
while volunteer teaching adult immigrants
in Seattle, Washington during college. At
that time, I decided that I would pursue a
career in teaching English overseas. I saw it
as a great way to blend my love of travel and
culture with my interest in teaching.
SV: What do you enjoy most about teaching?
page 3 photo credits
left: by Riccardo Romano
top right: Being Human is a full time job... by UggBoy<3UggGirl
bottom right: RESPECT by Lorie Shaull
all photos via Creative Commons Flickr
Send your writings to alcstudentvoice@gmail.com.
MR: I enjoy helping to empower students
with something as essential as language.
Due to the nature and aims of language
classes, a great deal of time is spent read-
ing, writing, and discussing countless topics
in the target language. One of the greatest
benefits of teaching English is working with
students from various backgrounds and
learning about their beliefs and interests.
This offers me the opportunity to see the
culture in a way that might not be possible
as a tourist or foreigner working in another
field.
SV: Describe your teaching style in three
words.
MR: Facilitate. Interact. Encourage/mo-
tivate.
SV: How is teaching at the ALC different
from teaching at other schools?
MR: I think the students at the ALC make
it different from other schools. Generally
speaking, ALC students tend to be moti-
vated, competitive, very competent, and at
times critical. Students I’ve worked with in
other schools and programs have had to fo-
cus more on just grasping and learning the
language. I think students here at the ALC
expect more of a holistic learning/life expe-
rience from their time here; they want lan-
guage, culture, community, entertainment,
and more. This can really keep teachers on
their toes!
SV: What is the role of a teacher in the class-
room?
MR: Overall, teachers should facilitate
the process of learning for students. This
is through the content they bring to the
class and the environment they create and
maintain within the classroom. More spe-
cifically, a teacher’s role is to provide stu-
dents with language input — this refers to
the content: grammar, vocabulary, etc. A
teacher also needs to provide students with
plenty of opportunity for practice — this
refers to the tasks and activities the teacher
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top: Little Girl in Amusement Park
bottom: Happy Girl with Pink Shoes Ready to Longboard Ride
both photos via PicJumbo
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Reynolds
brings to the class. A teacher is also respon-
sible for giving students feedback — this
means correcting and guiding students as
they learn.
SV: What qualities do good teachers have?
MR: Good teachers use whatever creative
abilities they possess to provide lessons that
address the needs of every student in class.
They motivate students through their ac-
tions and attitude. They strive to empower
their students as much as possible. They
never stop learning and working to develop
themselves into better teachers.
SV: What qualities do good students have?
MR: Good students have great study skills.
In class, they know how to take notes, ask
questions, and ask for help when they need
it. Outside class, they know how to use
their notes and books to complete their
homework, make study sheets, and practice
the vocabulary and grammar on their own
before they come back to class. Good stu-
dents have a positive attitude toward learn-
ing. They are open and curious. They ac-
cept and complete the tasks given to them
and contribute their own ideas along the
way. Good students know how to be part
of a class and have a positive attitude to-
ward their classmates. They treat classmates
and teachers with respect. They listen when
others are speaking and are happy to share
their own views with the group.
SV: If you weren't teaching English, what
would you be doing?
MR: I would be spending as much time as
possible outdoors! I might be working in a
nursery (for plants, not babies!), a forest, or
a national park.
SV: What is your motto?
MR: I have several. A few favorites I find
myself repeating: Life doesn’t have to be as
hard as I make it. Life is too short to waste
on negativity. Enter everything I do from
a place of love.
Join the conversation.
The Student Voice publishes
writings from ALC students
and local university students.
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writings
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Developing Youth Assets
Soukaina Alloui
Advanced 3
Nowadays, people think about cor-
rectly bringing up the future generation
and helping young people to develop their
assets. The question is, “How can we help
youth to develop these qualities?
Initially, young people, especially teen-
agers, should be treated as responsible and
resourceful citizens. In fact, helping them
to rely on themselves and feel responsible
is key to building up their talents. For in-
stance, young people in developed coun-
tries grow their creativity continuously due
to the responsibility they take on.
The Problem of Curiosity
Batoul Ourkas
Intermediate 5
In my opinion, curiosity is the major
problem that teenagers my age face nowa-
days. It can lead us to commit other trou-
bles.
As a teenager, have you ever been curi-
ous about something in particular, especial-
ly those extraordinary things like smoking,
drinking liquor, getting tattoos, partying
with friends all night long, or even try-
ing some drugs just to know how it feels?
And every time you see people around you
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In addition, the future generation
ought to be given the opportunity and
guidance to prove their abilities and express
themselves freely. Through this guidance,
teens are given the chance to share their
ideas and make their own decisions. To
sum up, youth are extremely important for
our future because they provide a creative
structure for our lives.
In my humble opinion, we should care
about youth issues and try to figure out so-
lutions quickly in order to guarantee a great
evolution in the gifts that young people
have to offer our society.
So, we must realize that we can’t buy
having fun doing those things, has it ever
crossed your mind to even try one of these?
For me, teenage life is the most dif-
ficult periods because it's a time when we
search for answers to our uncountable ques-
tions. It’s when we seek more explanation
and broader examples. It's the period when
peer pressure is the most influential of all,
and, as studies confirm, peer pressure and
curiosity can come together to affect ado-
lescents' lives a lot.
Peer pressure and curiosity can easily
harm many teenagers if they aren’t prop-
erly guided by their parents or their peers.
FIND YOUR VOICE.
September & October 2018 • 3
time; we can’t grow time; we can’t ask for
more time. We can only lose it. After we
have lost time, we have no idea how much
we have left. And we shouldn’t forget
that this is what the Prophet Mohammed
(PBUH) teaches when he said, “even if it
were the last day in the world, and you had
a seed in your hand, grow it before you die.”
We have the power to prevent time
loss, but we also have the power to waste
time. If we keep wasting time, it will even-
tually turn around and lay waste to us in-
stead. It’s your life, it’s your own time, and
it’s your choice.
Once students are influenced by curiosity
to do such things, there is a big possibility
that they will lose their focus on studying,
but it's their decision whether they choose
to do these things or not.
It’s really advisable that parents talk to
their children about these kinds of matters
to guide them on the right path. As we can
see, this generation of ours is very different
from past generations.
All that I can say is that all of us know
what's right and what's wrong, so we ought
to choose what's best for ourselves and our
health.
writings & news
“You may not control all the events that happen to you,
but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
Maya Angelou, American poet

4 • September & October 2018 alcfezbook.com • facebook.com/ALC.Fes.ALIF

Being a Teenager:
Two Perspectives
Douae Arrad Majdouline Hajali
Juniors 9 Advanced Juniors 9 Advanced

Well, being a teenager is not what I Being a teenager is a complicated

had imagined. You can’t go to parties all thing. It’s so different from being a child.
night or hang out with your friends any- It’s a life-changing step, especially if you’re
where and at any time. No talking on the a girl. Your body changes and then you
phone all night. No, this is not reality. start paying attention to your clothes, your
To be a teenager is more like this: re- makeup, your hair, and you also try to at-
sponsibilities, exams, school, homework, tract boys.
homework, and…homework! And when What is also hard about being a teen-
you ask your parents to let you go to a par- ager is that you go from having a peaceful
ty or to give you some money to go shop- child’s life to a life that’s full of problems.
ping with a friend, the answer is always the But what is cool about being a teenager
same: “Maybe, if you make more effort.” is that it makes you a little more respon-
A few years ago, life was much easier sible, so your parents start letting you go
and more enjoyable. Homework was re- out with your friends and letting you go to
duced to underlining the right answer or parties.
drawing a circle. You could sleep ten hours When you are a teenager, you feel like
a night. You could always go to birthday nobody in the world understands you, so
parties. You didn’t have to learn science or you start thinking about ways to make your
physics. You could do anything without parents angry with you, such as smoking or
being punished. (Well, a little bit!) drinking, but you later regret it.
I am very disappointed about ado- Personally, I prefer my life as a teen-
lescence. Why can’t it be like High School ager, even if I have made some mistakes,
Musical? Is it so hard for the parents and I have learned from them. This is why I
teachers to be cooler? So, please, God, think that being a teenager is fun — be-
make all my life a dream, and make me a cause you can do all the crazy things that
4-year-old girl again. But, I have to admit you'd always wanted to try.
that adolescence is sometimes good, too.

Congratulations to the September 2018

ALC-Fes Merit Scholars
Every ALC-Fes Merit Scholar receives free tuition for one ALC term because of their outstanding academic performance.

Intermediate 1 Lina Mazouri Advanced 1 Mehdi Hachimi

Beginning 3 Roa Mjahed
Beginning 4 Ilham El Hanafi
Beginning 5 Kaoutar Moussaid
Beginning 6 Mohammed Amine Zaghloul
Intermediate 2 Yassir Abouessououd
Intermediate 3 Sara Hajji
Intermediate 4 Aya Rihani
Intermediate 5 Wissal El Hammani
Intermediate 6 Yassine Kabbaj
Advanced 2 Yasmine Hraoui
Advanced 3 Boutaina Akka
Advanced 4 Zineb Nmili
Advanced 5 Maissae Beniken
Advanced 6 Hiba Guessous

The American Language Center-Fes • 2, Rue Ahmed Hiba, B.P. 2136, Fes • phone: 05. 35. 62. 48. 50
Student Voice editors: Taoufik El-Ayachi and Jennifer Wendel • alcfezbook.com • facebook.com/ALC.Fes.ALIF