Quest through West

As the sun falls on Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, eight-year-old Mayasa Hamid, says goodbye to her life in Sudan and boards a plane to Atlanta, Georgia. Hamid touches down in Atlanta not knowing English or anything about her new home. 

Hamid felt pressure on her the second she stepped foot on U.S. soil. “Knowing that you’re a triple threat in America, sometimes it makes you undermine yourself,” Hamid said. Despite her feelings of isolation from other children in her age group, she continued to work and soon became a role model for other immigrant children.  

“I’ve always been an academically driven student, It wasn’t that hard for me to motivate myself to learn English,“ Hamid said. This academic drive would continue on to every aspect of her life for years to come. 

Coming to West, Hamid worked her way through high school and paved her own way to success. Kelly Bergmann, a guidance counselor at West, helped Hamid do this. 

“She is one of those students who has really made her own way and made her own path and has really utilized all the things we have here,” Bergmann said. Hamid also found a connection with social studies teacher, Jessica Mehegan. 

These teachers helped introduce and encourage Hamid to apply to the College Preps Scholars program. This program gives students a chance to go to a summer program at Yale, Uchicago, and other prestigious schools. It also gives students money and helps to apply for college through the Questbridge National College Match program. 

From job shadows to the College Preps Scholars program, Hamid has worked her way to success that will continue at Boston University in the fall. This is through the Questbridge National College Match program established in 1994. The program works to match high-achieving, low-income students with college partners. Questbridge gives students a full ride after a long process of applications. 

Hamid worked through these applications and after months of interviews and finalists, she found out she was matched with Boston University on her way home from a dentist appointment with her father. 

“We screamed and we were all so proud,” Hamid said. 

Hamid also found motivation within her family ties. “They would just keep reminding me, especially on rough days, that I was [a large] reason they came to the United States,” Hamid said. 

Regardless of her efforts to assimilate into American culture, one thing Hamid has always kept close to her heart is her Islamic faith. 

“As a Muslim, We believe that everything that comes to you is because of God,” Hamid said. For many years, Hamid struggled to balance her effort to blend in and her faith. 

“Coming into high school,  I had a certain view of myself where  I needed to fit in, and that meant sacrificing my religion,” Hamid said. She wore pants for many years until she had a conversation with her aunt in Nov. of 2021. “It just kind of clicked,” said Hamid. From that point on, Hamid decided she would dedicate herself and her time to her Islamic faith.

“I decided that I wasn’t going to wear pants anymore, which is a big change, because in Islam, for women, modesty is a really big thing,” Hamid said. Many young women in Islam have to choose what they wear in accordance with their faith. Although skirts where new for her Hamid had been wearing her hijab since 12. A hijab is a head covering commonly seen in the Islamic faith. 48 percent of Muslim women opt not to wear a headscarf, according to Pew Research survey.

“When I put my hijab on, that’s when I started dealing with my identity hands-on,” Hamid said. This empowered her not only in a religious aspect but her entire life. Hamid worked, prayed, and thought harder than she ever had before in her life. 

As she goes into college, Hamid hopes to continue to find herself and become more independent. 

“ I thrive in moments [of independence], but at the same time, obviously, I’m human,” Hamid said. Hamid plans to go to Boston University and graduate with the class of 2027