Tasmia Islam (she/her), Journalism+Design
Research
Creative
Project Description
Mahnaji, a Muslim Rooftopper defies the odds of how Muslim women are seen in society and on social media. Rooftopping is a term that people use to visualize the activity of climbing roofs of any kind, tall skyscrapers or structures. For my Senior Capstone Project, I presented a short 1 minute documentary out of the actual longer version that I’m still working on about how Mahnaji overcame her fear of heights and allowed herself to except a new life of living on the edge while being responsible for her own being as a visibly Muslim woman on social media. I interview her about who she is outside of social media and why rooftopping has become such a vital hobby of hers that it actually keeps her grounded, both literally and figuratively.
What Form will your Final Project Take?
Video
Who was supporting you in with work?
Andrew Meier: Senior Capstone Professor
How has this project has been impactful or transformative — for you personally or for those this work has impacted:
This project showed me that if I push myself to not giving up, I can come up with great ideas. I was so stuck before and after the project started because I was so worried about how the final product would come out. I stressed too much on things that I shouldn’t have and realized after that this project was going to take a long time so it was better to pace myself. I didn’t give up and found out how to continue the project to make it look better.
What would you do differently? How would you advise a student who is going to do something similar?
I would definitely start at least a couple months in advance. Time goes by so fast and while working on your senior capstone project, you still have to worry about passing other classes to graduate so it can be frustrating at times when you just started working on it. I did come with the idea for my project a year in advance but I only started working on it when the semester started.
Are you going to publish or print your work? If so, where?
I want to, maybe on a big platform like Vice or Buzzfeed. If not on my personal YouTube page.n old website of mine to host the work and the files.
YouTube link to video: https://youtu.be/EIxw9IBLuXg
Short summary
Something that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the overall support. I was more confident in starting my project because I had people who helped me not give up because of setbacks.