Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer
Pronouns: she/her
Grade: 12
Years on staff: 2
What is your favorite piece of literature? Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz.
Who is your hero? Jesus Christ.
If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? My mom's mashed potatoes.
![“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to memorize the Quran — the holy book of Islam. It has 604 pages and 114 chapters. Memorizing the holy book has a strong significance in my religion and it is very rewarding. I recite it to this day to make sure I don’t forget it. I’m the co-founder and vice president of the Muslim Student Association [at our school]. It is a club formed to create a community for Muslim students here at West. I [moved] to West from an Islamic private school and homeschooling program, so I naturally yearned for that consolidated Muslim community at West when I joined in-person [school]. I got to know many Muslims at the school, but they were scattered. In Islam, forming an ummah (a muslim community) is very significant. However, when I first came to West, I saw that there was a population of Muslim [students], but they didn’t form one solid group. So, along with one of the new senior Muslim friends that I made, we took it upon ourselves to create a club forming a solid Muslim community, and it has been great. We’ve done volunteer opportunities, projects and even Islamic board games. It really has been such a fun experience that I want to keep up next year.” – Zahraa Sajid, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/zahraasajid-900x600.jpg)
![“It’s really important for me to be involved in high school, meet new people and try new things. Trying new things is always really hard, and I dont like doing it, but I know that it builds character, and makes trying [new things] later much easier. I knew that I wanted to have a foundation here [at school], get involved, try new things and make friends with people. After COVID, I was still signed up to try out for Color Guard, and I thought, ‘I might as well just go.’ No one goes into [the team] knowing how to do it, so its like a challenge. You have to figure it out and adapt to what youre being asked. I love the team so much, and I love every single person. Id go up to [all of them] at school and Id hang out with any of them.” – Cora Tiemeier, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/coratiemier-900x600.jpg)
