Stetson senior Marina Kalliecharan saw women wearing the hijab while growing up in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago. On Tuesday, she decided to try wearing one, too.

The Muslim Student Association and visiting Fulbright Scholar Eman Elsayed Eltaher Mahmoud Abdelhalim of Egypt organized Hijab Day on the steps of the Carlton Union Building Tuesday to raise awareness of Muslim culture.

Kalliecharan picked out a bright green headscarf to wear and posed for a selfie with friend Jahkeema Petersen, a junior from the Virgin Islands.

“I thought it was nice when I learned women could choose if they want to wear it or they don’t want to wear it,” said Kalliecharan, a marketing major. “At first, I thought it was something they had to do, like if you’re Muslim you have to wear it, but it’s a choice, which is good.”

Stetson senior Zainab Nadeem, a member of the Muslim Student Association, said her parents were surprised when she decided to wear the hijab beginning in her freshman year of high school in Ormond Beach. To her, the hijab displays her belief in God and Islam.

“In the Quran, it says that women should cover themselves out of modesty and respect,” said Nadeem, a psychology major. “As a believer of Islam, I’m just obeying what God commanded in a way, so it’s just my way of showing my devotion to God.”

-Cory Lancaster