March Match; Muhammad Ilyas Hotak '24 at Tivoli Library
Muhammad Ilyas Hotak’24 recently took part in Bard's March Match, an alternative Spring Break program offered by the Bard Center for Civic Engagement. As a recent transfer student from Afghanistan, Muhammad looked forward to an opportunity that allowed him to see a snapshot of how the work environment looked around Bard College.
March Match gives students staying on campus for Spring Break the opportunity to choose a community organization to intern with. Muhammad chose the Tivoli Public Library, where he was able to volunteer with events, reorganize and help set up the new library database and help shelve books.
Before the internship, Muhammad hadn’t spent any time in Tivoli, but after March Match had good things to say about the neighboring town. He describes the experience as “fun until it’s not,” since it offered challenges to his way of thinking and learning about the “completely different environment” he was in.
Muhammad told me that the “toughest thing was to work in a team,” due to the differing deadlines and opportunities that were brought to the table. However, he also noted that the most rewarding aspect of the experience “was not about the work I did, but the people I interacted with.”
Working with the people at Tivoli library, Muhammad was able to find connections with the people around him — even finding that some spoke Pashto, his native language. Moreover, he was able to find a community within the Bard students who were also working at the Tivoli Public Library, and together they were able to form a friendship that still continues.
After asking Muhammad if he liked Bard, he described the difficult measures he undertook to get here, starting with his transfer from Afghanistan to Iraq and finally to Bard and then he told me that he did enjoy it here. Specifically, he loved the hiking trails around Bard and the different opportunities they provide, such as March Match.
Post Date: 04-07-2023