By Sajia Bidar ’16

Once upon a time, there were only a few things in my life that I really, truly cared about: my family, my friends and occasionally, school.

When I first came to Athenian, I looked to thrive and grow as a person, not only academically, but also socially and physically. I figured Athenian is the place for this. Halfway through my second year here, I am proud to say Athenian has been everything I hoped for, and more. From the academic, social, mental and physical challenges that I have faced during my time here, I can truly believe in the fact that I have indeed grown as a person, and into a thriving young woman.

For the first fourteen years of my life, I attended public school. During these years, school was simply a place I went to hangout with my friends. With classrooms overflowing with students and more than four hundred kids per grade, my individuality was not important to my teachers. Now, not to say that I didn’t like being in the shadows, I was a very shy person. However, I believe that in order for one to mature as a person, individualism and personal attention are a necessity

The many interactions that I have had with students and teachers here are those that have helped me thrive. You may have heard of the challenging academics that transpire throughout the Athenian campus, however, the long nights and countless essays and projects have helped me to procrastinate less and be more responsible. The amount of attention that is paid to ones’ academic, social and individual performance at Athenian is remarkable. I am  grateful for the teachers who have given up their lunch breaks and afternoons working with me to make sure I was on the right track.

Athenian has pushed me exceptionally far out of my comfort zone, and for this I am grateful. I am not the shy and timid Sajia I once was and I have Athenian to thank for this.  Because of Athenian, school is not just a place to hang out with friends anymore.

School has become a passion of mine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’m crazy about the homework, but the feeling of accomplishing a challenging task and thriving academically gives me a feeling I cannot describe.  A feeling which ignites me with the passion to push forward in life, and to keep fighting, no matter how strong the current is against me.