More than just her hijab.
“Sit by me Kayla, so these people don’t think I’m a terrorist.” as she giggled and sat down.
Being raised in the populous metro Detroit area, I grew up going to school, sporting events, restaurants, and even church being surrounded by a wide variety of people of different colors, sexes, cultures, and religions. I was raised to respect people for who they are and what they do, and thought most people were raised in a similar manner. My family never had an issue with people of color, my friends, our neighbors, coworkers or even the mail woman were no different to us. Of course we all know of that one aunt or uncle, cousin – someone in our family who liked to scream out racist rants, pure ignorant bigotry spewed with such venom that people tended to think otherwise on the mental stability of that person; That seemed pretty ubiquitous with most families.
In January of 2015, I transferred to West Texas A&M. My transfer was more on a leap of faith – or really a whim. I had been looking for a school that had a good agriculture program and was in my price range. I had never been to Texas before about wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard from different sources that the panhandle was a pretty conservative and religious region, also seeing from movies and TV shows I was picturing big hair, high waisted jeans and ten gallon hats; but as my plane descended down towards a vegetation sparse red mars-like landscape, I realized how different and surprising this place might be.
It was a Monday morning 8am class. My very first class at WTAMU. I had arrived early to the auditorium / lecture room to find myself a seat. I sat off to the side near the back by myself because I was yet to meet and see people from here, It was about 10 minutes before the class was supposed to start and the majority of students were starting to fill in the empty seats. I sat watching the other students when a group of rowdy young men behind me caught my attention. They were miming guns with their fingers and shot guns with their arms. Laughing and carrying on about shooting someone, following the path of their ‘make believe guns’, I found the target on the other side of the auditorium, a muslim girl wearing the head covering ‘hijab’ who sat right on the first row in the class. Back home, in Detroit, a girl in a hijab would not have garnered any attention, but surprisingly here it did. I had experienced abject racism before, but this was a bit much first thing in the morning. I later learned that this girl and I lived in the same dorm hall. Through time I would learn more about this amazing woman. I can only assume and imagine the daily adversity she experiences for being a Muslim woman of color in Texas, but also as a woman in agriculture. When I later told her about the barbaric incident that occurred in class, she calmly responded, “ Let them watch me thrive,” and continued with our conversation. Yet instead of wavier, she continues to succeed and push forward her caring, dedication and ever positive attitude has inspired me countless times over my time at WTAMU, and she has become one of my good friends.
Born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya; Zahra Shihabuddin has an excellent educational background. She attended Jaffery Academy in Mombasa, upon graduating high school, she moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to pursue a higher education. Zahra comes from a culturally diverse background both her parents are Swahili. Swahili people are mainly found in the coastal region of many East African countries, because they are found a long the coast, which is a port of entry for many traders Swahilis area combination of Arabs, Indians, Asians and Africans. Her mother has a Comori and Saudi background, while her father has a Pakistani and Omani background.
In 2012 her parents migrated to Houston, Texas so that her family could all be in a country where they could all obtain a good education and life, It was were Zahra attended San Jacinto College and got her associates of arts in social sciences in 2014. In the same year, Zahra found the Plant Soil Sciences program at WTAMU “Even though I had no agricultural background, it was the most fascinating and different thing anybody from my cultural background could be. I wanted to be different and outstanding so I chose to do that. I think it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. ”
Zahra graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of science degree in Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences in 2016 and is currently working as graduate research assistant for the department of agriculture doing research on sugarcane aphids, a major agricultural crop in America. Even though she continues her path towards success, I am sure there are many challenges she faces just for being different in a typically white man’s field.
