“Everything I have experienced in my life helps form who I am today, and I would not change or forget any of it.”
“I admire many people, but I am not sure that I have any 'heroes.'”
“I am very grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded.”
“I can tell you character traits I admire and work to develop in myself - perseverance, self-discipline, courage to stand up for what is right even when it is against one's friends or one's self.”
“I'm not in the business of changing policies. I hope to inform, not form, decisions.”
“Like one of any minority, I have experienced prejudice.”
“My national identity is first American. My religious identity is first Muslim.”
“People are so complex and multidimensional that raising someone to 'hero' status is too great a simplification.”
