Alnajjar.

DEARBORN – Ahmad Alnajjar, 21, a student at Kansas State University, has come to The Arab American News to work as an intern this summer.

Alnajjar, born and raised in San Jose, California, is of Palestinian descent. He enrolled at Kansas State University in 2012 to major in political science. He subsequently decided to minor in journalism, especially after becoming  involved with his college radio station.

 “I think a big part of it was reading stories that were biased, inaccurate and corrupt in the media,” Alnajjar said. “I thought maybe I could change that in some way, so I wanted to minor in the field.”

For his internship, Alnajjar applied to many publications across the country in the spring. He had been a loyal reader of The Arab American News and thought it would be ideal to apply for an internship here, since he had aunts and cousins living in Dearborn. 

Alnajjar came to Dearborn this month to begin his internship. He described his experience in the city thus far as a culture shock.

“It’s like being in the Middle East, but in America,” Alnajjar said. “I feel like I’m seeing my Grandma’s house on every corner. It’s a very interesting and weird feeling. I’ve never seen this before in America. I’m always with my family back home, but now I feel like I have a large family out of state. I feel very comfortable being around a lot of Arabs.”

Alnajjar plans to enroll in law school after his graduation from Kansas State. Ideally, he would also like to be a freelancer for a respected publication.

During his down time, he has developed a passion for stand-up comedy. He routinely uploads videos on Instagram and Vine and attends open mic sessions. He discusses topics regarding his family, culture and religion.

“It’s a great feeling to make people laugh,” Alnajjar said. “I want to eliminate the negative stereotypes of Islam and Arabs by using comedy as a weapon.”

During his time at The Arab American News this summer, he hopes to challenge himself as a writer and tell stories of Arab and Muslim Americans.

“I hope to write about anything that is the truth and sheds a positive light for the Arab community, Muslims and other minorities who are under-represented in the media,” he said. “I want to care for the little people.”