“My parents met in Iraq. My dad was a journalist at the time, and my mom was a film producer. They were both covering, in some form, the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that was occurring there. They had me in Dubai, which was a bit more stable, and I lived there for about a year.
We sold our apartment in Dubai. I think I might’ve been 1 or 2, and then we went to England for four years. That’s why I used to have an accent. We lived in Cambridge as my dad was doing his PhD there.
I only remember snapshots in my head from living there. I went to this private school called St Faith’s, and we wore uniforms. I also used to ride a tandem bike to school every morning with my dad, and I remember there would be pedestrians on the side yelling, ‘Hey, the kid’s not pedaling!’
My grandparents are divorced, but they both live in England. One lives just outside of London, and the other lives a bit further north. We visit them pretty much every year.
The idea of doing a gap year had to do with how much we travel. My favorite thing is always getting to see different places in the world and experiencing new things. When I got into Rice University, I had the money available to do that.
The program that I am doing is not connected to Rice at all. I am doing this music program called Roskilde Festival Højkole in Copenhagen. It’s sort of like a university, but just for one year. I stay in a dorm with roommates, and we do music production.
You know how every mom makes their kid do music lessons, and then everyone hates it? Well, I hated it for a little bit, but after a year of playing, I was able to have some say in what I was playing. Basically, the better you get, the more ability you have to play exactly what you want. So now I can just pick any piece that interests me and learn it. As I started to get better, I started to enjoy piano more and more.
I took piano for four years while at Bellaire. While I was in piano class, for some reason, there was an electronic drum set just sitting in the practice room. I was like, ‘This looks kind of fun.’ I sat down, and I got the hang of it really quickly, and it was really enjoyable. I started going to practice, even during lunch a couple times, and just played on it.
My sister’s bass teacher had an extra set and actually gave it to me. Now I have a drum set in my room, and I’ve been playing for a year. I was in a couple bands for a bit as well. I still play piano more — that is my main thing — but drums is a side hobby. In college, hopefully I can join a band or something.
For the first half of the gap program, I am staying in Roskilde, which is where they hold a big music festival every year outside Copenhagen. I have been running around it on street view, imagining my next year.
I am doing music production, which is using online tools to produce music. You record the instruments and then put them into a music editing software. It combines all the tracks and builds a song. I practice it a bit now, and I have made house music before. I am not very good at it, and I would like to be, so that’s what I am doing for the first semester.
I am going to come home for Christmas to celebrate, see my friends and watch ‘Dune: Part Three.’ Then, I’m going back. I don’t actually know what I am doing for the second half. I can renew for the second semester, which is going to be more focused on recording with instruments.
Hopefully I can have an ensemble or band with other kids and make some music. I just wanted to see if I’d like it first. If I hate it, then maybe I can work on a cruise, or work in Berlin or something.
I definitely want to get more skilled at creating music by myself and with people. I want the boost in independence going abroad would give me. I want to be able to trot around the world by myself, hop on a plane and go somewhere on a whim. I found something to do that pushes me — something that is exciting and new but gives me a break at the same time.
I am just excited. I get nervous for a lot of things, but not for this. I’m getting kind of restless. I am ready to explore.”
