HUMANS OF BELLAIRE 2022-2023

“I'm for sure a minority—Muslim, Pakistani, an immigrant. I don't remember anything about Saudi Arabia, [where I was born]. I don't remember anything.  Then, I moved to Pakistan in kindergarten. Pakistan, I barely remember. I remember the masjid [a place of worship] and sometimes azan, a call to prayer. I remember in Pakistan, on days of Eid, there'd be goats and cows around the neighborhood. Eve...

Reflecting on high school “There's a lot of pressure to make my senior year perfect and super special. Going into freshman year, I thought I had a full four years of high school ahead of me, and I didn't need to worry too much about the way I was carrying myself. Having sophomore year online set me back a little bit. Coming back to junior year with these IB courses and exams to prepare for, I...

“There were hundreds of thousands of marine iguanas just basking on the rocks. It was a new island, so hardened lava covered the ground. There were Galapagos hawks flying above, Galapagos sea lions lounging on the beach and Darwin's finches everywhere. I took a moment to just stand there a little bit away from my group and take in everything. It was a moment of realization, of like ‘Oh my God.’ This p...

“One of my happiest moments was when I took a trip to my mom’s home in Guatemala, my first time traveling outside of the U.S. I have most of my family in Guatemala and finally meeting them in person brought me a lot of joy. Guatemala’s landscape and architecture had me in awe because of its beauty and trace of Mayan culture; it made me wish I could stay there forever. I stayed there for a week and I...

“I remembered being on stage and feeling like I belonged. It felt like the world disappeared, and it was just me and my feather costume singing about how much I loved Horton the Elephant. That's when I realized, ‘oh my God, this is what I love.’ We were doing ‘Seussical the Musical,’ so it was all the Dr. Seuss characters. I remember waiting for the cast list to come out, and I was like, ‘T...

“I started [Greek dancing] when I was in second grade. My brother danced, my parents danced, so I always knew I was going to at some point. Greek dancing is very traditional to each specific island from Greece, so basically we just take a couple of dances from different islands. It's very upbeat, very loud and very energetic, so it's a little chaotic, but it's also really fun. Greek dancing is a ...

 “I love making people feel good; it's my medicine. Since I was young, I have always loved to sing, dance and act. I was the kid who was deemed extra and dramatic.  Seeing how Tyler Perry was able to entertain people while still having a powerful message motivates me to use my personality to do the same. This is one of the things that sparked my interest in acting. I remember watching ‘Madea’ for the first time and being completely inspired. I learned ...

“In the States, I’ve never been peed on by a monkey or evacuated from a Metro platform so a bomb could explode. I was holding two monkeys in Morocco, and one of them peed all over me, including in my bag. I had to spend the rest of the day with my clothes stiff with monkey urine. It is supposed to be good luck, though. Another time in France in 2015, someone left a bomb on a Metro platform and ...

“When I was in kindergarten, I used to get bullied a lot. My parents put me in jiu-jitsu to learn how to defend myself, and I’ve been doing it ever since, for 13 years. Now, I’m a jiu-jitsu competitor who loves to succeed in whatever I do. I manage jiu-jitsu and school through time management. Obviously, I dedicate most of my time to jiu-jitsu, but for school, maybe I’ll sacrifice going ou...

"Through Semester at Sea (SAS), I get to go to 10 to 12 countries in Asia and Europe. It's basically college on a cruise ship, kind of like “Suite Life on Deck.” Because of all of my surgeries and learning disabilities, I knew that I wanted to do a gap year so I would have more time to prepare for college and process things. I want to major in anthropology, which is a study of cultures, so this...

“I was in Ethiopia for two months this summer. I got to see five of my dad’s brothers who I had never met or even talked to before. They live in the countryside, so they don’t have phones that can call America. His family traveled all the way to the capital city just to see us. In the house we were staying in, everyone brought their cousins, and there were kids running around everywhere. We g...

“Having played sports all my life, I needed something to stay in shape during my freshman year of college. Austin is a very active city, and two of my friends said, ‘We’re going to do the Austin Half Marathon. It’s in February, and you should do it with us,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I signed up, and it turns out they did not sign up, but I already paid the $90 fee, so I was like, ‘Well,...