Muslim student finds order, discipline in ROTC

www.heraldtribune.com By LIZ DOUP

Her name is Sarah. Sarah Mohammed. She's easy to identify at Boca Raton High because she dresses according to her Muslim faith. Her body is covered. Her head is covered. As President Bush talks to the country about war with Iraq, Sarah struggles through every day at school, looking different, feeling different. But she's found a bit of acceptance in the school's ROTC program, of all places. Not because of its connection with military training, but because of the commander, a man with brown skin and accented English, a man who knows what it's like to be an outsider, too. He's retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Edwin Morales - Chief Morales to the kids in the Navy Junior ROTC program he helps run. Inside the portable classroom, Sarah, 17, joins students from this country and around the globe - Haiti, Colombia, Russia, Venezuela, Brazil ... At the moment, two boys are being reprimanded for breaking a trophy. The talk centers on responsibility, honesty and respect for others. ROTC programs in high schools are about teaching values, not guns and bullets. "What we're trying to do here is build character," Chief Morales said. Before Morales took on this mini United Nations, before he spent 20 years in the Navy, he was a kid from Puerto Rico, growing up in the Bronx, tangling with bullies. "I do understand what Sarah, what a lot of these kids face," Morales said. "I've been there." Sarah, in three years on Florida soil, has heard enough fighting words. "But I don't want to fight," she said. "I want to teach." Understand she's a Muslim from Trinidad, not the Middle East. But ever since 19 terrorists on four planes changed history nearly 18 months ago, many Muslims have felt under attack. That includes Sarah, whose parents kept her home for two months after 9-11 because they feared for her safety. In the days and weeks that followed, she was spit on by a boy who passed her in the hall, had her hijab - her head covering - snatched off and was called a terrorist by other kids. Now, with the specter of terrorism and the prospect of war, she's bracing for more. Students in ROTC rally around her but can't be with her every minute. Just today, as she walked to class, a boy yelled at her, "Freak!" It's no wonder that Sarah was drawn to ROTC for its order and discipline. They do precision marching drills. They answer "Sir" and "Ma'am." Sarah sits ramrod straight in the classroom where other students are surprisingly quiet, too. It's current events time, when the kids talk about the newspaper's front page. It can get dicey at times, discussing global events with kids from all over the world. When Colombian drug wars make headlines, some kids want to label the Colombian students drug runners. When terrorism is the talk, Sarah can suffer. "Stereotypes are rampant," Morales said. "That's what these kids have to deal with." But Morales has a way of keeping hot topics neutral. Often, after a student's comment, he orders the class, military style, to "Give 'em some love." In unison, the class responds with a syncopated clap. Clap. Clap. Clap-clap-clap. Clap. Clap. Clap-clap-clap. It's a show of unity among the kids, even if they are oceans apart in beliefs. When it's Sarah's time to speak, her red-hot topic is the war between Palestinians and Israelis. In a soft voice, she talks of land disputes, broken promises and shattered dreams. A girl asks about suicide bombers. And a boy says, "If it's about religion, then nothing's going to change, right? You can't tell people what they should believe." Morales lets the kids talk and Sarah respond, before he gets to the most important point: "You don't have to agree with Miss Mohammed," he said. "But you need to respect her. If we all don't listen to each other, how are we to learn? How are we to understand?" Sarah sees herself as a teacher who can educate people about her faith. She answers all the questions people shoot at her, silly as some seem. "Why do you dress like that?" "My religion tells me to, and, also, modesty." "Why do Muslims kill people?" "My religion doesn't teach people to hurt people." "We can't see your hair, so I was wondering, is it black?" "Yes." Sarah longs for people to understand she's no different from other kids in so many ways. She lives with her parents - her father is a cabinetmaker - two sisters and a brother who moved here, like so many others, for a more stable life. In her short time here, she's grown fond of Ben Affleck; she listens to Power 96; and when she's out of her ROTC uniform, she wears jeans under her tunic, not a long skirt. She can do all that, you understand, and still be the girl in the hijab who faces Mecca to pray. And when she prays, she prays for peace. "She's a very courageous young woman," Morales said. "Not only does she come to school, she lets everyone know she's Muslim and proud of it." In the classroom, Sarah learns from others as others learn from her. It's a two-way street, with Sarah listening to others' point of view, too, Morales said. But last fall, the pressure of being different weighed too heavily. Sarah dropped out for three weeks until Morales coaxed her back. In the past few weeks, as the prospect of war dominated headlines, she started missing classes. So Morales took her aside again. The world is full of bullies, he told her. But you don't fight them with fists or by quitting. You fight them by being a good example. That means going to school. That means doing your work. You fight them with character. "As a Muslim, Sarah represents what so many people fear today because they don't know any better," he said. "I like to think these kids will grow up not being afraid and ignorant because they knew Sarah." And in the classroom, they're showing some love. Clap. Clap. Clap-Clap-Clap. Clap. Clap.