Becoming Boundless
Hello, my name is Fatima! Here’s my UW Husky Experience!
My Past
The pivotal moments of my life were nothing short of traumatic. When I was in 8th grade, my family and I were on the verge of homelessness. Being at such a young age, I felt scared, confused, and overwhelmed. I was placed in a strange juxtaposition; despite the struggles we were facing, my Asian parents clinged on to one culturally ingrained question “Log kya kahenge?” — What will people think? This question imposed a heavy burden on me. Being the oldest of my siblings, I bore the responsibility of upholding my family’s reputation and burying my rapidly deteriorating mental health.
In the short span of a month I lost my home, watched my family fall apart, and witnessed the soul-shattering effects of financial insecurity. I fell into a depression so deep, I didn’t think I would ever make it out. All the while dealing with the harsh stigma in my community regarding mental health and failure. Watching my mother cope with her depression by suppressing it and isolating herself from us led me to do the same. The phrase “Log kya kahenge?” never seemed to leave me as I fought these battles alone. I gained a disillusioned view of education and my cultural identity.
Contradicting Expectations
In the fall of 2017, I began my first year of college. What once seemed unattainable was now right in front of me. The moment I stepped foot onto campus, I became the first woman in my family to attend an American University. I felt undeserving of such an opportunity. Witnessing the disenfranchisement of young girls in my home country worsened the feeling. My mother got married at the young age of 22, forced to sacrifice her education to immigrate to the United States and start a family. I shouldered generations of lost opportunity; nonetheless, it seemed like the real end goal of my degree was to make me suitable for marriage. My desire to attain a cultural standard of success and please others led me to pursue exactly that.The resources and community at UWB allowed me to realize the hard truth — success has no definition, and depriving myself of my passions was only hurting me. Contradicting the limitations imposed on me, I decided to pursue Business and Public Health.
Finding a Sense of Purpose
I took “unconventional” classes I was genuinely interested in such as Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies. During a class discussion, the topic of cultural barriers and inaccessibility to basic resources arose. I felt like I didn’t have the privilege of talking about these as an outsider — for me these discussions were personal. As a woman in Business I was scared of the judgment and assumptions I’d face had I claimed my experiences. By listening to the narratives shared by my peers, I became aware of the distinct barriers faced by various groups. Albeit taboo, I knew my struggles were not something I was alone in — they were simply underrepresented. I recognized the value in listening to a community in regards to their needs rather than assuming. I set it my personal goal to elevate unheard voices and create equal opportunities. This goal was the starting point of my work as a Husky leader.
My Impact within UWB
I took action by earning my position as a Student Lead for UWB’s A.C.T. (Achieving Community Transformation). This opened up a plethora of opportunities for me to apply my Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies learnings to highlight equity and create an accessible campus environment. My newfound skills aided me in leading the UWB Census Committee. Discerning the impact that the Census had — from direct funding for people in poverty to grants for students to attend college — I was determined to ensure community members had the resources they needed to participate in it. My takeaway from Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies stayed central — to listen rather than assume. I reached out to professors to hear student perspectives and share why it was important to me. I was surprised at how many students — like myself — relied on grants to fund their education. I created an innovative way of ensuring student experiences hold weight in the Census through development of the Census Ambassador Program. I wanted students to be able to advocate for themselves and feel empowered in their identities. Through A.C.T., I discovered my voice and spoke up not only for myself, but others as well.
Through my Census work I was able to receive a fellowship from a UWB community partner, Washington Bus, a nonprofit that works to put the youth most often excluded from the political process at its center. I was driven to use my community-organizing skills gained through A.C.T. to focus on housing accessibility. I held peer listening sessions to create an outlet — a space for people to be vulnerable and share their experiences to collectively brainstorm policy recommendations. Hearing their stories and recalling my own instilled in me a sense of empathy and passion. I presented solutions to policy makers, politicians, and multiple organizations. This partnership through UWB allowed me to make connections with my experiences and prevalent issues in my community. Observing the correlation between financial insecurity and mental wellbeing, I conducted research focused on cultural disparities in mental health.
I brought my learnings to the UWB community. I taught a two-hour class revolving around self-care and mental health. I fostered a safe space for classmates to actively discuss the cultural disparities in mental health and the various forms of self care. I was all too familiar with the cultural stigma of mental health and isolation that accompanied it. To mitigate this in the UWB community, I began developing “Radical Self-Care” workshops to help students understand how to cope with mental health issues in a healthy manner.
This year, I got selected as the Vice President for Women in Business at UWB. The women in my family were strong, but their hardships were tremendous. I want to end the generational cycle of women being silenced and dismissed as nothing but homemakers. Seeing a lack of representation in leadership roles specifically for women of color in the world of business, I aim to create a space that encourages and promotes confidence and self morale in women.
Looking Forward
Through my time at UW Bothell I challenged taboo issues and reconstructed the image of the type of woman I was expected to be — I discovered my voice. My involvement in the community supplemented by my courses, allowed me to break the generational curses that women in my family faced and regain my sense of identity. I know my impact won’t end here. I will continue my community work to create a non-profit organization that grants disadvantaged children in India their right to a quality education through the creation of schools, in which they too can live up to their potential. I will use the knowledge I have gained through the University of Washington to continue taking part in the fight for a better, more inclusive, and equitable future. When I first came to UWB, I felt governed by the question, “What will others think?” But I no longer waste my energy making my lived experiences palatable to others; instead, I embrace them to push forward and transcend boundaries.
