Dear Professor Jarrah,

You may not remember me but I was in your Middle East class this past
fall semester, and let me just say I have never learned more from a
class than I did from yours. The only thing I found frustrating was
when I would try to discuss the different things I had learned with my
father. Generally speaking, my dad is a very intelligent and wise man,
that is until it would come to topics about Arab people, in which case
he was always quite ignorant. It had always upset me to hear his
negative views about this group of people that he really knew nothing
about. I would continuously tell him to read your book, and that it
would change his mind, and stubbornly he would reply that he was sure
it would not.

For his birthday this past year I gave him Obama’s Audacity of Hope,
which he read and really enjoyed. After reading that he must have
decided to trust my taste in books, because when I gave him your Arab
Voices he read it right away and in fact finished it in only a few
sittings. He really enjoyed it as well and thought it was one of the
most interesting books he had ever read. More importantly it finally
opened his eyes to how wrong his prior views had been. He found it so
interesting that he wanted to discuss it with just about anyone he
could find, including myself, my mother, and people at work. He has
even passed it on to a friend at work (who is also enjoying it) and
they are planning a time when they can get together to really discuss
it.

Basically the point of me writing this is not only to compliment you
on your book, but also to thank you for everything you have done. Not
only did I learn so much from your class, but you also opened my dad’s
eyes which I am very grateful for. I hope you know that everything you
are doing is truly making a difference in the world, even if it is
step-by-step and person-by-person. I wish you continued success and
all the best in your journey!

Again, thank you so much for everything you do.

Sincerely,
Courtney