Imaan
Imaan was a junior at Poolseville High School when she wrote I am the Night Sky. She serves as the president of the Muslim Student Association at her school, which holds food drives and food packaging for the poor. They also coordinate discussions where Muslims and non-Muslims can have a safe space to discuss Islam and address misconceptions.
In the future, Imaan plans to attend college and hopefully go to dental school. She enjoys Netflix, napping, and eating basically anything.
Imaan’s mother is from Pakistan, while her father is from India. However, they both grew up in the U.S. Growing up in Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the most diverse counties in the United States, I rarely encountered prejudice. However, the Syrian refugee crisis changed her perspective.
“The Syrian refugee crisis showed me how fear of unknown cultures can cause misunderstanding, discrimination, and disregard for human life. It hurt me that so many people feared Syrian families who were simply trying to find a safe home. This is why I joined this project – so that we as Muslims can share our diverse views and common human values, to shrink that distance between all of us and the unknown.”