Life Of A Young Pakistani
Introduction
Zara Taraaf is a fashionista that always comes to school all well and put together in her dresses. Her curly hair that is never frizzy stands out as big as her personality. Known as Ms.T she is the only teacher at Latino Youth High School that focuses on college and career for the seniors. “Life is like a game, it will throw challenges at you and you have to decide how you want to play it. ”
Growing up and School experience
Zara was born on July 7th 1990, making her cancer. She was born and raised in Evanston Illinois. Growing up she knew she was different from the others. She was mostly surrounded and went to school with white kids. She never let the kids get to her, she was her own person. The kids were stuck up and not well behaved, it was different from how she was raised. She never experienced any racsim, the kids didn't really bother her, but they all had known each other since elementary school so it took a while for them to open up and invite her into their group.
In high school she only had 1 close friend. Her friend was also another person of color. She thinks they clicked because they lived in the same subdivision, and were alike in many ways, especially since out of the whole school they stood out. During her high school years she was very social but also focused. Zara stayed on top of her work and passed all her classes. She went to homecoming junior year but didn’t have the prom experience, she just wanted to get out of there. She went for business and got out. Now she regrets not having more fun and getting that high school experience.
Journey in Texas
During spring break of 2019 she visited Texas and really liked it. The person she was with at the time had a job opportunity there. They took their chance, packed up and moved. While living in Texas she taught 7th grade. After the pandemic everything was different, school didn't feel the same. Around the same time her relationship of 5 years came to an end. It wasn't working out and it was best for them to go their own separate ways. That's when she decided to take a break from teaching and did some contract work for the Workforce Board in Texas, focusing on building out work-based learning opportunities for high school students. For a moment it felt like everything felt apart for her. She needed a new place to stay and a new job. She didn't know what to do, her whole life in Texas. She had to build her life back up. Luckily for her she had her sister in Texas. Her sister was generous enough to help her baby sister out monetarily until she was back up on her feet. Zara didn't want to rush into things though. She wanted to think about her next steps. It was time for her to go on her healing Era.
Finding Herself
It was time for Ms.T to have fun after being in her long term relationship and not getting the high school experience she decided to have the time of her life. She had enough money saved to be unemployed. She would be outside enjoying herself doing things she never did before. After having too much fun she had gotten stuck again. Her family in Texas didn't want to support her anymore if she didn’t get serious about finding another job. She knew she would go back to teaching in the fall but she had depleted her emergency fund, and needed to make a decision ASAP.
Road back to Illinois
She knew she needed a change. She wanted to stay in Texas because her friends and the new life she built were there. She had the option to go back home with her parents until she figured out what to do. She decided what was best for her was to move back. She needed to mentally reset. Illinois was the best option for her, she had her parents back there. She had a place but still no job, so she decided to start applying. Two days before moving back to Illinois Mr.H, LYHS’s director, reached out to her for a job opportunity. She took her chance and got the job. Ms.T loves being a teacher. “The best part of my job is my students, and the direct impact I have/ can make on them.”
When she was younger she would always say she wanted to be a pilot, but she grew out of that. Nothing else has crossed her mind other than teaching. She had her mind set to be a teacher, even now. Her plan is to work towards my principal license, and then eventually her PhD in educational policy & leadership. “I hate not being able to do more for my students. I want them to have access to everything they need. I want them to be able to leave LYHS and be successful, kind, and productive members of society.” Ms. T has been teaching at Latino Youth High School ever since and thinks it was a great decision she made coming back to Illinois.
Delilah M.