What are your pronouns?

she/her

Which class/year are you in?

Class of 2025

What is a job/title/role you identify as?

Student

What does that mean to you?

I try not to fail my classes. I do my homework, and I try to enrich myself as much as I can in class each day. I’m trying to do my best in school so that I can be successful in terms of my education.

How long have you been part of the high school?

Since freshman year, in 2021.

How do you start your day?

Apart from freshening up, the first thing I do is pray fajr. I’m Muslim, and there are five obligatory prayers in a day. So that’s the first one. It starts around 5 a.m. and ends when the sun rises, but the actual prayer time is only a few minutes. Then I get ready for the day. I would say I make my bed but I don’t really make it, I just kind of neaten it but I don’t make it all fancy like if a guest was coming over. If I have time, I eat breakfast, but most of the time I don’t have enough time.

What is something you’ve spent a lot of time on recently that really interests you?

My NAHS application. The prompt was, ‘Why is art important to you? How does it affect your daily life? How do you incorporate it into your life?’ I’ve always done art. I came out of the womb with a paintbrush in my hand, but I never really thought about why I always liked it. It’s just always sort of been my thing. So I spent a lot of time thinking about it more than writing it, actually. When I wrote it, it took me like 30 minutes because I knew what I was going to write; it just flowed.
It made me think back to my childhood. It interested me because it made me think more about the things I value in my life and how certain things have gotten me to where I am now, specifically through art. It just made me realize how much and why I like creating things and art in general. Art is a self-expression. It kind of helps me understand myself more.

Tell us about a project/accomplishment/hobby/goal, in or out of school, you’ve worked on and you’re especially proud of.

Multicultural Night last year was awesome. The diversity club did it. It was a very big project as a whole, but then at the same time when it came to big decisions or when it really boiled down to the organizing, it wasn’t a lot of people. It was our first time doing it, and we didn’t know a lot about it, so there was a lot of room for contingencies, but we pulled it off and it just went so well. And it was super fulfilling, being able to bring that to the school. I was talking to other students who were there and it seemed like they also were really happy that they got to express their culture in a place where they usually don’t have the opportunity to.
Personally, I felt very accomplished that we pulled it off, and that we made it happen, but it was also very fulfilling to know that it had an effect on other people too.

What is your favorite subject and why?

I’m a nerd. I love all the classes so much. Sometimes the teacher can affect that, but this year, I love all my teachers. So I don’t know what my favorite subject is. I enjoy English or History, but right now I’m enjoying English more. In both classes what I enjoy is talking about societal constructs, but the reason I enjoy English more is because—I’m taking AP Lang—it’s very broad a lot of the time, so I feel like I get to really delve deeper into things that are relevant to me. While in history, sometimes it’s really interesting, and other times it’s like, ‘Guys, who cares about Samuel Gompers?’

What is something most people don’t know about you?

So this is a little funny. This is a little silly. I wear the hijab, so I think it’s a little ironic that I was a hair fanatic before I put it on. I mean, I still really enjoy doing other people’s hair and stuff. So I collected headbands; I wore headbands every single day. I have I still have them, maybe 30 headbands. Since first grade, I would do my own hair. I learned how to do different braids off of YouTube, like French braids, dutch braids, and all types of stuff. I’m still really interested in it, but obviously, I don’t do that on a daily basis anymore. It’s like my secret passion I guess.

What is your secret to happiness?

Number one, sleep. Sleep completely changes how I’m able to regulate my mood. If I don’t sleep enough, I just feel like I’m not able to take on the day as well. I’m just a little bit more negative. Usually, I  attempt to sleep at 10:30 or 11:00 pm. However, during the school year I get really busy and so sometimes at night, either I get home and I’m so tired that I’m not productive enough until it’s a bit too late which compromises what time I sleep, or sometimes I want to relax at night because I’m so busy in the day that I’m just like, ‘I need a moment.’

The second thing I would say is: be self-aware of your emotional intelligence and how you go about your day with it. Like, are you getting really stuck on unnecessary things or perceiving things people say in a way that’s worse than it actually is because you have certain insecurities? Being able to look at things that happen from a bigger perspective, definitely makes life happier and more carefree.

What is your superpower?

My superpower is Islam. It’s called Duaa, which is basically when you sit down and you talk to God. You ask for things, whatever it may be, really big things or really small things. The way I usually start is sort of like praising God, so it reminds me of my faith as well. I try to do that every time I pray. It’s a routine that helps me. You’re sitting down, you’re reflecting on your goals, the things you want, and you get a time to—it’s sort of like meditation—quiet down and you remember the things that you’re working towards, the things that you want in your life, and it really helps me focus. So I say it’s my superpower because both religiously, God makes things happen for me—whatever ways he does it, it happens—but also, physiologically, it sort of helps me stay focused towards my goals so I can actually work through them. When you’re not reaching your goals, a lot of the time it’s because you’re forgetting what your values and goals are.

Who or what inspires you?

Probably my mom. My mom is very outgoing and I feel like she’s very unapologetic. She inspires me both with how hardworking she is but also, especially when I first started wearing hijab—it wasn’t that I felt insecure—it was sort of like an internalized insecurity like I subconsciously assumed that I would be seen differently—and maybe I am sometimes—but I was letting it affect how I acted. Always seeing her—she’s worn the hijab for so many years—-so outgoing and bubbly inspires me to stay confident and be myself.”