To Maryam Khalil, it hasn't gotten much easier to be Muslim in America in the last five years.

Negative sentiment toward her religion has only grown in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Khalil said — and she doesn't know when it will end.

"Muslims here don't feel so welcomed anymore, and some people just have given up their religion," said Khalil, a journalism junior. "Some girls have given up their scarves — things that are held so dear.

"Nobody feels proud of their identity anymore."

The problem, she said, seems to be that people are becoming more "comfortable in attacking or saying things against Muslims" than they used to be — and the nation's involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq doesn't help.

"We sense that it's not going to get any easier," Khalil said. "Now everybody thinks that Islam and terrorism are related. They're two unrelated things."

Five years ago today, Khalil was in her freshman year at a public high school in Atlanta. It was her first and only year at a public school — she attended an Islamic school until eighth grade and spent her sophomore, junior and senior years at an Islamic high school in Ann Arbor.

She normally took the bus home from school, but that day her mother came to pick her up, saying she didn't want Khalil to be verbally attacked by her classmates. Khalil said the Islamic grade school she had attended closed for a few days afterward in fear of harassment.

"My Muslim neighbors were all kind of watching out for each other," she said. "I remember that being distinct after Sept. 11 — that the community became closer and said we need to protect ourselves because we're facing a tidal wave."

There have been some positive outcomes from the events of Sept. 11, Khalil said, such as an increase in the number of Muslim students pursuing careers in journalism and law — two fields in which Muslims are typically underrepresented.

Since 2001, she said she's been "blessed" not to have experienced any serious incidents of anti-Muslim sentiment, but she's not immune.

In June, Khalil was in-line skating past Wilson Hall when she said she heard a male voice, coming from one of the dorm's windows, shouting derogatory comments at her as she passed.

Instances such as this can be prevented by becoming educated about different cultures and religions, Khalil said — and one of the ways to learn more is to ask questions.

"Even if you ask some sort of question that you might think is embarrassing or offensive, we won't take it as offensive," she said. "It takes courage to ask questions and then pass on the answers. It's difficult, I know, but that's the least we can do."