Sara Khayat
Myself Third Spirit of New York 2002 Scholarship Winner
Brooklyn International High School
New York City College of Technology
"Sara is a straight A student in Humanities. She has become a wonderful writer with her own distinctive style. A creative piece she wrote on the abolitionist movement and slavery was so sensitively written that I recommended she submit it to a magazine.… Sara is committed to numerous groups, all of which require her to play a leadership role. Whether as Vice President of Student Government or as President of the Arab Union Club, she has a talent at bringing students together… Here civic awareness is also strong, as evidenced by her work for the Arab-American Family Support Center.… I would like to add that in these turbulent times, when so many Arabs are maligned and mistreated, Sara is a reminder of why American schools should work extra hard to support diversity."
—Julia Sommer, Humanities Teacher
Work, Volunteer, and Extra-Curricular Activities
- Arab-American Family Support Center
- National Honor Society
- Student Government
- Arab Union Club
Excerpts from Sara's Essay
Martin Luther King once said, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." As individuals, we can only call ourselves successful human beings when we decide to walk away from the darkness of selfishness and join the light of caring for one another as one group, regardless of our race, ethnic group, or religion. In the wake of September 11, New Yorkers have begun comprehending their civic responsibilities. I personally have.…
Since the community that I am involved in is Brooklyn International High School, I thought that we could start making the difference from within our school. I had a thought about having a meeting with BIHS students where we could discuss the September 11th events and see how each of us felt. My humanities teacher had encouraged me. I wrote an essay about how Muslim Americans felt and were treated and how New Yorkers became more united than ever, working together as one group. As a group, we began asking questions and sharing our opinions and feelings. I felt that I really made a difference, because after predicting that no student would be interested in coming, many students along with staff members joined the discussion. We were a group of people with different backgrounds and beliefs willing to negotiate with each other and ready to listen to each other's opinions with full respect.
Civic involvement has led me to decide my future career. Doctors have big responsibilities over their patients. They care for their patients, sympathize with them and feel their pain as human beings, regardless of their patients' beliefs or backgrounds. They walk away from the darkness of selfishness from the day they put on their white blouse and join the forces of people who are really in need of them. Doctors do join the forces of people who work for equality and spread their individualistic concerns to the concerns of all humanity. As Martin Luther King stated, they then start living. I, therefore, decided to become a doctor whose main concern is not self-concern, but the concern of all humanity.
