Nour Belgaid is currently a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. Not only is she the president of the Chinese Club, but she is also a member of JFK’s guitar club. She is an extremely talented, smart and passionate individual. Incredibly enough, she has passed both of her biliteracy exams (Chinese and Arabic). Nour hopes to travel in the future. She also plans to attend Rutgers University in the fall and is extremely excited to embark on her new path to adulthood. 

What inspired you to pull through these last four years at JFK?

Nour: Spite. I guess the fact that after this [high school],  I can actually work towards a goal. I felt like I wasn’t really working towards anything in high school. But, also I picked classes with teachers that I liked so I could feel there was one good class I can look forward to in the day. 

Has a class or teacher here at JFK ever influenced you? If so, was it in a good way or bad way? 

I would say Mr. Hill gave me a lot of patience. I talk alot. I’m always very excited to get my point across, especially since I am a very argumentative person. But when I spoke with him, it was the first time I met somebody who actually went back at my “back and forth”. It taught me to sit down and to think about my arguments. It made me a better person to speak to. It really taught me alot about conversation.

I would also say Ms. Ebner. She taught me that there’s more to the world of books. Even though I read a lot of books all the time, I can say that she forced me to look at books in a different perspective and to appreciate the high level stuff [literature] you talk about in English. 

What is one thing you are proud of accomplishing this year? 

Passing my classes. Getting into Rutgers. It was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. Just passing my classes, maintaining friendships with people and bettering myself as a person. 

Is there anything you wish to improve on?

I wish to be an easier person to talk to because I realized that when people talk to me sometimes, I might come across as if I’m judging them, or I can seem harsh and menacing. I don’t like that. I want to be a person that my friends can come to for comfort. I also want to be less of a “know it all”. 

Do you have any causes that you are extremely passionate about? What do you want the world to fight for?

I’m super passionate about what’s happening in Palestine right now. It’s something that I believe in heavily. I’ve always been passionate in advocating for their cause. But, especially right now, I feel like it’s the optimal time and it will shed light into not just what’s happening there, but all over the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan African countries, all of which are undergoing a crisis. My biggest movement, if you will, is just giving minorities and people who have experienced racial prejudice an opportunity to speak…. I want to be able to use my voice to be a champion for all of these causes [movements] and not just have people hear what they say, but actually apply what they say. 

If you could change one thing about this world, what would it be?

Perspectives. I wish I could change everyone’s perspective on things. A lot of the problems right now revolve around perspectives. If we look at the issues that’s happening around the world, even in Palestine, because we are unable to look at everybody’s different perspectives and we are unable to look away from our own, we can’t sympathize with other people. This causes this huge problem where people view other counties in a certain way….Perspectives change everything, especially the perspective in history….

You have entered a new chapter of your life; adulthood. What are you looking forward to in your new adult journey? 

Finally being alone. For most of your childhood, even if you want to be “hyper independent”, it’s [childhood] with other people. You’re right next to people. In classes you are “desk to desk”, “shoulder to shoulder”  throughout life and you are surrounded by a whole bunch of people. I feel that, as much as I like to pride myself on being very individualistic or what not, I still feel like I bounce a lot of my personality and my ideas from other people….