This past weekend I had the opportunity to head back to one of my most favorite places in my heart– the MMYC Spring Conference.

MMYC is the Michigan Muslim Youth Council and it was founded back in my hayday of ‘99.  I was a freshman in high school when all the Michigan area youth groups decided to come together and form one umbrella organization.  It’s purpose was to better connect the youth of all the distinct communities in Southeast Michigan.

MMYC started off by putting on day seminars and activities in different communities.  I guess the hope of MMYC was by sticking its name on a flier (as opposed to just the name of the host community) kids from all over Michigan would want to attend.  It didn’t make any sense to me, but it worked.  Muslim high schoolers would flock to MMYC events in hopes of seeing friendly faces from afar every now and then.

In 2001 they decided to have their first ever weekend camp/conference.  I was there, best friend in tote, and had the time of my life.  I was a sophomore in high school floating through life content with my desi-Muslimah existence.  It was at this conference where, for the first time, my core was shaken, and I realized I needed to get back on track and better myself. I needed to reprioritize.

I remember the feeling I had leaving the first MMYC Conference.  I was fresh with hope of a change I could manage.  I was fresh with friendships I wanted to last forever.  And I was fresh with memories that *still* make me laugh to this day.  I was excited about the Muslim scene in Michigan and wanted to be a part of it.

Later that year I took on a role as the secretary of my masjid youth group, YMFA.  I got more invovled in my deen and the masjid, and started pushing myself further and further.  I was making connections with girls from different communities and finding my place in Michigan.

In 2003 I went back again, for the last time as an attendant.  I was a senior in high school and I had high expectations from my first trip as a sophomore.  I thought, maybe the magic was only there in 2001 because it was the first time.  But I was wrong.  In 2003, the conference speakers shook me to my core, AGAIN.  And I had a shift in my perspective, and after leaving the conference I never wanted to go back to any part of my old lifestyle, as acceptable and average as I had previously found them to be.

Having graduated high school that year, and becoming too old to ever attend the conference as a camper again, I managed to find my way back there in the Spring of 2005 as a counselor.  I had matured a bit more, and thought I was again at a comfortable and content place in my life.  But again, the conference managed to get to me.  Maybe this time it didn’t attack me as forcefully, but it really got me thinking about what I was doing all year round to help out all the Muslim youth that were living in Michigan.

I decided to come back again as a counselor this year at the conference, and it’s safe to say, that MMYC magic is still alive and well.  I don’t know what it is about the conference that just *works*.  Maybe it’s the speakers.  Maybe it’s the hype of no parents + spring break + hotels.  Maybe it’s the yearning to seek knowledge.   Or maye it’s that all throughout the conference I was surrounded by a new batch of Muslim youth, soaking in the MMYC experience, making friendships, and being revitalized.

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It’s such a heartwarming sight to see.  And I don’t think you’ll understand until you’ve been there yourself.  To see high school Muslims, coming out for a weekend to an Islamic camp, if only to be with their friends, but still to be there.  To see them sit and listen and hear hadith for the first time.  To see them sit and listen and hear stories of the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wasalaam) for the first time.  To see them meet new friends for the first time.  To see them being shaken to their core, crying for the Mercy of Allah for the first time is touching, to say the least.

I kept looking around at all the girls there, thinking about how I felt when I was in high school attending these conferences.  I kept revisiting my reactions to speakers, and knowledge.  My reaction to new people, faces, sights, perspectives, memories.  And after being at MMYC again, for the 4th time, I left having my heart shook up.  To see the blessings of MMYC pass on to another generation is something I am so thankful for.  I left this weekend with a commitment to make sure that conferences like this one never fade out.

It’s amazing, that after 7 years of having MMYC in my life, it has managed to shift my mind and change my heart STILL, withouth fail, year after year.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala shower His mercy upon the youth of Michigan, the organizers of the conference, and all those who attended.  And may He make MMYC a means for all the Muslim youth in Michigan to come closer to Him, ameen.