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With local high schools holding their commencement ceremonies this week, the Voice wanted to hear from graduating seniors about what their high school experience has been like.
Below is a Q&A interview with Los Altos High School senior Farida Abd el hak, who reflected on her experience at the school. Answers have been edited for style and clarity.
What is your favorite memory from high school?
After the last day of junior year, I headed to the back field and laid flat on the grass. I lay there for at least half an hour with my arm covering my eyes. The mix of relief from finishing school, exhaustion from being sleep deprived and excitement for the summer really stuck with me. When I got up to see the empty field, I was overwhelmingly grateful to be seeing the sky so blue and the grass so green. It was my first taste of the confusing emotions of senior year.
What’s a word that describes your senior year?
“Surprising.” Although I went into the year with few expectations, I still couldn’t have expected how it turned out. The unexpected surprises that came up made me lose focus temporarily, but I still chose to push through.
At the beginning of the school year, I was diagnosed with an allergic immune condition. Suddenly, it felt like I was allergic to everything. It was very stressful and the symptoms were exhausting, but I still chose to work hard in finishing school work and applying to college.
What song defines your senior year?
“Kan Enna Tahouna” by Fairuz.
It is a 70s Arabic song that I listened to often when I was younger. The singer is remembering an old windmill that was part of her town. It’s filled with the nostalgia of the joy the mill created. As I thought of moving away for college, it brought me comfort knowing that regardless of how the world changes, the memories remain unchanged.
Which class do you think prepared you most for life after high school?
Oddly enough, it was Chemistry Honors. Looking back, the content wasn’t necessarily the most difficult, but it required self-determination that I hadn’t developed yet. It forced me to transform my study habits and work ethic, which helped me succeed beyond the class.
Finish this sentence: “In 10 years I’m going to be…”
28 and hopefully the proud owner of a driver’s license 🙂 In all seriousness, I hope to contribute to the incredible biomedical innovations being developed around the world. As someone with an immune condition, I have first hand experience with how dramatically a diagnosis can change a person’s life. I also know how much hope patients have for a change. I want to be able to build up that hope.
What’s the top piece of advice that you would give to incoming high schoolers?
Don’t take rejection personally, instead use it as a learning opportunity.
You will apply to jobs, summer programs or even just ask a friend to hang out and you will get rejected. That rejection is not a reflection of who you are. Sometimes, it is about fit or multiple factors at play. Regardless of the reason, more often than not you will never be directly told what it is and that’s okay.
But just because the rejection isn’t a reflection of you doesn’t mean it isn’t a reflection of your actions. Even if you did nothing “wrong” objectively, self-reflection can still help you in the future. Could you have communicated earlier with that friend? What study methods did you use?
What are you most proud of accomplishing or overcoming in high school?
As a first generation immigrant, I often struggled to find resources that catered to my specific needs. Whether it was finding summer programs that offered scholarships to non-citizens or figuring out the college application process, it all felt so impossible.
In addition to the help of my amazing counselors at school, I needed to do a decent amount of my own research. This was time-intensive and required long-term planning I didn’t know I needed. This led to the repeat occurrence of learning about opportunities after their deadlines passed or ones in which I no longer qualified. Although I learned from my journey, I wanted to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds avoid the obstacles I faced.
This desire led to the founding of Reclaim FEE (freedom & equity in education), an organization that caters to the needs of low-income and immigrant high school students. The resource library is being used by AVID teachers and counselors across the country to encourage disadvantaged students to take a step forward. I am proud to be a source of encouragement for disadvantaged students to take a leap of faith, like I once did.
Check out this year’s list of Los Altos High School graduates and read our article about the graduation ceremony.
For all of our graduation coverage, go to our central graduation page.