I have always been captivated by religions and their impact on societies and human beings. Therefore, I naturally chose to focus my interest on this issue, and more particularly on the Arab Spring, to cover my beats, due for my Advanced Journalism class at the University of Northern Colorado.

My first article had to be a “Day in life story”. Clearly, I had to follow someone related to my beat during an entire day. 

Because at that time Egyptian people were celebrating the first anniversary of their uprising, I wanted to highlight the evolutions that occurred since the revolution happened. But I found myself stuck because there was no Egyptian community in Greeley. Not even an exchange student!

My reaction was to contact Syrian persons living in Greeley. Remember: Syrian people are currently fighting for liberty against the tyrant Bashar Al-Assad. One more time, however, I could not find any Syrian in Greeley.

My third choice was to talk with Libyans. Like Egypt and Tunisia, Libyan people overthrew their president. In the case of Libya, an angry crowd killed Muammar Gaddafi, at the head of the country since 42 years, after months of civil war.

When I met Nasser Almsmari and his wife, I was captivated by what they told me. The freedom they experienced since Gaddafi died was shocking. Almsmari even confessed that he would not have done this interview before the revolution, even being in the US.

The second part of my beat is quite different. After having highlighted the political side, I want to bring on the forefront the conflictbetween Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle-East, more precisely in Saudi Arabia. To cover this subject, the help of my friend Mobarack Al-fawaz is precious: he will tell me all about his childhood and what being Sunnis means today in the US.