Story by Ryan Low
Photo by Ryan Low
Rawah Arja is an author and teacher who initially gave up on writing in her early years. But she was urged by her reluctant to read students to write her first novel The F Team. She spent 5 years working on the book until COVID came, ruining the production process and eventual sale. So, she did what any person in 2020 would do, download TikTok.
Her first post was a 15 second video about her father in recognition of the hard work he does. It performed miserably in its opening hours with 15 views from the account’s only follower rewatching it. But, overnight, by some miracle, it blew up. It gained traction to rise to 1 million views and was adored by all of them. A GoFundMe was set up for Arja’s father that raised $36,000, which was given away in the spirit of Ramadan. Her father’s whole life was changed, and on accident too!
This was a major factor into why The F Team succeeded. All the characters and content in the book are based off Arja’s real life, which includes his father, so she used that a reason for buying the book. She also posted videos of these characters brought to life with her family members. Parents do keep on giving after all!
After sharing this heartwarming story, she tasked the class to write something based off the opening I knew it was a bad idea to: Stories were transformed as others added their own flair and style to these openings. One went from dropping a cat into a pool to betting on sport events, another detailing a journey through the woods that became a wake up to another world. Such writing tasks are examples of Arja’s prowess in the classroom as a teacher. It was wonderful to have her be a part of our festival.