Issue 13 Ebaa Momani April 13th

Students’ Voice 

FP CHRONICLE 

Explore the 

interesting 

articles, art, and poetry inside 

FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019

C 

ONT 

ENT 

The Holy Moon 

a poem by 

Noor Kashoub 

11 

3 

The Accreditation 

Happiness 

5 

A Home away from 

Home an Article by 

Eman Al Alawi 

A Zoo in Salalah 

FP Writing Competiton 

Winner by Manal Jashool 

A Report about 

Students Trip to Al- 

Baleed Museum by 

Fatima AlMashani 

13 

15 

7 

A Report on the 

Second Oped Day 

by Mohammed 

Khader 

9 

A Report on 

DU’s Cafeterias 

by Sumiya Yasir 

Said 

A Collection of 

Students’ Drawings 

A Review of 

Instagram by 

Maathir Al Ajmi 

19 

1 FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019 

FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019 2 

17 

The FP Chronicle Team wishes you a wonderful, pleasant time going through 

the pages of our new issue.

The Accreditation 

Happiness 

In Their Own Words 

“FP I feel proud of my university 

and its services and I hope it will be 

always successful and continue to 

develop.” 

Mashahoora Mahad Suhail Al Amri 

CAAS 

“My feeling can’t be described. DU’s 

accreditation means that I’m in the 

best place to study.” 

Nawf Abdallah Hamood AL-Ghafri 

CAAS 

“I’m so proud of us. We work hard 

we really deserved it.” 

Wafi Mubarak Al-Rashdi 

CE 

“I have more self confidence being a DU 

student now” 

Balqees Mohammed Ali Suliman 

CL 

“To me it is a responsibility!!! I hope we 

are up to it.” 

Mithaq Sabeit Al Mamari 

CCBA 

“The existence of accreditation helps to 

be recognized in Oman but is not enough 

to be a recognized university in all parts 

of the world. Now we should think of 

that” 

Said Suhail Ahmed Hubais 

FP 


FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019 4

A Home 

from Away Home 

I 

am a student in Dhofar 

University, one of the most 

popular universities in the 

Sultanate of Oman. I am from the 

North, specifically, Al Dhahirah 

Governorate of Ibri. I study in 

the Foundation Program in Level 

2 and when I have finished Level 

3, I hope to take my Bachelor of 

Education in Mathematics. 

Dhofar University is very huge 

and has a lot of colleges such 

The College of Arts and Social 

Sciences, The College of Law and 

The College of Engineering. I 

like the courses in this University. 

They are useful for our careers. 

The teachers are kind and helpful. 

While I study in this University, I 

live in the hostel. It is very big 

and comfortable. It has three 

floors. It also has a restaurant 

and a small shop where we can 

buy anything we need. There is a 

place to exercise and we even have 

a gym with exercise machines. 

The hostel is not far from our 

classrooms. We feel safe because 

there are hostel supervisors to take 

care of us. Every night we go to 

the supervisor’s office to sign 

in to make sure that everyone is 

in. Every weekend we have the 

chance to go shopping to the malls 

and shopping centers. We stay in 

the hostel for two or three months 

without seeing our families. It is 

hard at first but we get used to it. 

Life in the hostel is a new experience 

for us. However, it teaches us to be 

independent, responsible and helps 

us to make friends. These are good 

lessons for life in the future. 

Eman Mohammed Al Alwi /FP 



OPEN DAY 

Mohammed Khedr/FP 

The Open Day was on Tuesday, 

February 12th, 2019. The 

teachers told us to come to 

classes for attendance from 8:00 to 

8:30 a.m. After taking attendance, the 

teachers guided us to Hall 1 to attend 

the Opening ceremony. First, they 

welcomed all the students present. 

Then, we played the Kahoot game. 

After that, the boys left to Hall 2 and 

the girls stayed in Hall 1. In Hall 2, 

some students recited poems, which 

were wonderful. After that, students 

showed their skill in folk songs and 

performed nice Omani folk and 

traditional dances. One of the students 

brought his own guitar and played 

Omani music, and most of the students 

participated in traditional dances such 

as Bora’a, Madar and Razha. They 

also sang traditional songs. Outside 

the Halls, in the courtyard, teachers of 

the Foundation Program organized a 

bake sale. Lots of students and teachers 

bought different foods which were 

brought by teachers and students. The 

money collected from this sale was 

donated in charity to the Autism Centre 

in Salalah. After this food break, we 

went to Hall 4 to participate in Math 

quizzes and games. There was a writing 

competition held for levels 2 and three 

students. The Open Day concluded 

around 12:30 p.m. We gathered in Hall 1 

for the closing ceremony. There was an 

award ceremony for the winners of the 

writing and presentation competitions 

and also awards for the outstanding 

students. Mr Faisal concluded the Open 

Day with a speech, thanking everyone 

for making the day a success. 

D 

O 

PE 

2 

A 

N 

Y 



DU’s Cafeterias 

Somiya Yasir Said/CAAS 

There is no doubt that cafeterias 

are a necessity in any university. 

Students use them as rest stations 

between lectures to feed up with 

energy and relax. The quality and 

the menu list should be of good 

standers. In Dhofar university, 

there are some cafeterias, but there 

are three main problems with them: 

they are crowded, have a slightly 

expensive menu and they don’t sell 

healthy food. 

To begin with, the classrooms building is 

located in the middle of the university, and 

it is the most essential gathering centre 

for students. Dhofar university has two 

cafeterias there; one for the male students 

and another one for the female students. 

Each has a tiny space and a few tables which 

are not enough to accommodate all the 

students; this makes them very crowded. 

This leads to two issues. First, students 

who can’t find any table to sit will merely 

take their order and head directly to some 

empty classes to eat their meals in. The 

smell of the food spread all over the rooms, 

and sometimes students fill the rooms 

with clutter. The class won’t be a suitable 

studying place when a lecture starts later. 

Second, when there are so many students 

ordering at the same time, the people who 

are taking orders and preparing the meals 

at the same time become overwhelmed. 

Sometimes It takes an hour for the order 

to be ready, the results is that students 

arrive late for their lectures or if they 

are starving, miss them altogether. Many 

times I had to order my meal unheated to 

save the time. 

Moreover, some of the menu meals are 

kind of expensive. Some students may 

not be able to afford them. Unfortunately, 

here in our DU’s culture students feel shy 

to bring their own prepared meals from 

home, so many students are suffering to 

maintain certain standards. 

Furthermore, the most significant issue 

is that if you seek to have a portion of 

healthy food, you will find nothing. All 

you can see is fast food saturated with fat 

or sugar. In the long run, this may cause 

health issues and obesity among students. 

To sum up, I would like to suggest some 

solutions for the three main problems 

that I have early reported. First, a spacious 

lounge or two should exist in the primary 

classroom building for the students to 

rest and eat if the cafeteria is crowded. 

Moreover, DU should control the prices of 

the meals, and this could be possible if they 

reduce the cafeteria’s monthly rent, for 

example. It is wise to say that part of the 

solution is in the hands of the students as 

well. They should raise their voice and ask 

for healthy meals. They can as well break 

some social boundaries and start bringing 

their lunches from home. Finally, I would 

like to say that the higher the quality of the 

cafeteria the higher the performance and 

the more energetic the students would be. 



The Blazed Soul 

Noor Kashoob/CAAS 

Meeting you as meeting the soul of moon 

Ohhh the holy moon 

That comes from my soul to yours 


That meets your lighting with my soul 


That feeds my soul with faith 


That holds my miseries sorrows 


That delights my wrath to laugh 


That fits my passion with yours 


That gives breath to my soul 


That completes our blazed soul 


Alone upon the moon, oh, then, the doom 

Ohhh that’s all 



A 

in Salalah! 

“ 

Imagine having a zoo 

in Salalah! A chance to see 

different species of animals 

is a great thing. 

“ 

If I won one million Rials to build 

a Zoo in Salalah, I would choose 

three animals. The first animal is the 

penguin. Penguins are my favourite 

animals, and they are not common 

here in Oman so I would like to give 

a chance for people to see them and 

know more about them. The other 

animal will be a koala. I will make 

sure to include this animal in my 

zoo for a reason. Lots and Lots of 

people think that koalas are bears, 

but they are not. In fact, they share 

some similarities such as colours, 

size, soft fur and giving birth, but 

that doesn’t mean they are bears. I 

really want the people in Salalah 

to see these animals up close. The 

last animal I would like to have 

in my zoo is the white dolphin. 

I chose this animal to make a 

variety of collection in the Zoo 

like sea animals. Also, they are 

rare animals, so people will enjoy 

their time in the zoo. I will name it 

“Learn and Enjoy”. I want people 

to know more about uncommon 

animals in Oman and have fun. 

The animals I chose are some 

of the most important kinds of 

animals and they will attract 

many people. So the zoo will 

have lots of visitors. 

By Manal Ahmed Jashool 

FP Eglish Club Writing 

Competition winner/ Level 3 

13 FP Chronicle Issue 13, May 2019 


A trip to Al- 

Baleed Musium 

New but Great! 

A trip to AlBaleed Museums 

Fatma Ahmed Salim Al-Mashani/CASS 

I have just went through one of 

the most exciting experiences I 

have ever had in my life- a tour 

at Al Baleed museum. 

I started following one of the aphorism 

which says, “life is either a daring 

adventure, or nothing”. So why not being 

a tour guide? At first, when I was offered 

to tour guide the students who live in the 

hostel, I was kind of nervous and terrified. 

I am literally a shy, quiet person who loves 

to hang out alone most of the time, leading 

a group of 30 growing up students, giving 

them information in English was definitely 

not what I thought my thing. However, as 

a person who cannot say no to anyone, I 

agreed to do it. 

Al-Baleed or the Land of Frankincense 

museum was the place of our trip. The 

best thing we did before heading to the 

site was visiting the Al-Saadah Park. 

It has been my first time in the park. In 

the park,we had lunch and enjoyed some 

funny competitions and games, then we 

headed to the museum. 

The black museum gate reminded me of 

my old days in the primary school. We 

used to visit the museum annually to learn 

about Dhofar’s history. In the museum, 

I tried my best to encourage the girls to 

read the labels of the exhibits very well, 

because obviously I cannot mention every 

detail in the museum. During the visit. 

The girls were so amused to learn about 

the old fabulous exhibits and monuments 

from the past civilizations that were in 

Dhofar 7000 years ago. 

At the end of the trip, we prepared a 

short pop quiz for the girls. The questions 

were mostly about the museum. I saw 

how the girls were excited and in flame 

for answering the questions, that made 

me really happy. I started to believe that 

I am a really good tour guide despite the 

fact that I was anxious in the first half at 

the beginning. 

I am really grateful for my teachers who 

let me live this great experience, as it helped 

me build up my confidence as well as my 

leading skills. I am also thankful for the 

hostel girls who supported me throughout 

all the trips. What I wish of people who 

have the same conflict as I had or any other 

conflicts; is that they should not give up 

under any circumstances and they have to 

fight the odds in their personality and try 

new things, always. 



INSTAGRAM 

Instagram is one of the most 

popular social networks, where 

you can publish your videos and 

photos. It was first released in 

October 2010. Instagram has 

advantages as well as 

disadvantages. We should 

be careful while using 

it. 

There are some 

advantages of using 

Instagram. Firstly, 

it helps us easily to 

communicate w ith 

friends and even with 

people around the 

world. Secondly, we 

can benefit from it in the 

field of education, through 

the dissemination of 

advice and awareness. 

Teachers can use a 

group hashtag to keep track of what the 

students are doing and to showcase their 

work. Thirdly, it gives users knowledge 

of events and exclusive news around the 

world. 

However, there are many 

disadvantages. Firstly, 

the addiction to using it 

and wasting much time 

can result in employers 

neglecting their job 

and students neglecting 

their studies. Secondly, 

children and teenagers 

are exposed to indecent 

images and unsuitable 

scenes. Unknowingly they 

get connected with people 

who are bad and unsuitable 

for their ages. Those people can 

change their way of thinking and 

morals as well. Thirdly, privacy 

may get lost especially with the new 

updates that allow more room for 

others to look at our activities . 

Enjoy you time on Instagram time but 

try to be wise when using it. 

Maather Redha Al-Ajmi /FP 



8 

3 

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5 

2 

6 

1 Rayyan Hassa Al Balushy/FP 

2 Maroa Mohammed Aqil Ba Omar/FP 

3,4 Maather Redha Al-Ajmi/FP 

5,6 Sara Rashid Khamis Al Badi/FP 

7,8 Waad Mubarak Abdulla Al Amri/FP 



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Retrieved from https://curiosity.com 

Answer of Issue 12 

Math Quiz 

Word Game 

English 

Language 

Proficiency 

Make the most out of “foundation’! Make as many words as you can 

using the letters in the word FOUNDATION . 

Only words of 3 or more letters count! 

FOUNDATION 

__________________________________________ 

__________________________________________ 

__________________________________________ 

__________________________________________ 

__________________________________________ 

__________________________________________ 



FP Chronicle seeks to give DU students a voice by involving 

them in journal writing and reporting in an appealing and fun 

format. 

Editorial Team: Ebaa Momani (Chief Editor & Designer), 

Sucharitha RajaGopalan, Chinta BhagyaLatha, Carmel Hankins, 

& Wesam Al Karadsheh 

Other Contributers: Theodora Marks, Amal Mursi, Muhammad 

Shamsi, David G. Williams Jr, Anita Venugopal, & 

Thangadurai K 

FOUNDATION PROGRAM ebaa@du.edu.om 23237518

Issue 13 Ebaa Momani April 13th

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