About Me

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Growing up, I was never forced to give much thought to my identity. Of course, I knew where I came from – I was raised by a single mom for the first seven years of my life, I am granddaughter of both a Palestinian refugee and a woman from rural Iowa who was the first in her family to attend graduate school, and I come from a family of determined and deeply compassionate people. Pieces of my identity were woven into my life in ways I would only understand in retrospect: in the food we ate, the way the house was decorated with deep colors and ornate rugs, the sewing lessons I got from my grandma, the fact that I only knew the Arabic word – “leban” – for yogurt until I was well into elementary school. Yet, like most kids, identity wasn’t something I thought about much – it just was what it was.

 

During my time at UW, this question of identity - one that many people have in college - became a core part of my experience. My identity coming from a family that prioritized education over most other things brought me to UW and into the honors program, and encouraged me to pursue a degree in physics, even when it was really difficult. My identity as a Palestinian led me into activist spaces, which formed and shaped a huge part of both my college experience and my social community. The endless support and encouragement of my family led me outside of my comfort zone, into study abroad experiences and research jobs that shaped not only my time at UW, but my future and career plans.

 

While I derive a huge amount of my identity from my family, there were also experiences - good and bad - that shaped who I am and who I will become. This portfolio, I hope, will give some insight into what those experiences were, how I reacted and grew through them, and how they have affecting the person I am continuing to become.