Rizvi’s role model stays constant

Unlike many students, senior Madeeha Rizvi didn’t spend her childhood looking up to an influential public figure, an impossibly cool teenager, or even a character from her favorite story. Rizvi’s role models were a little closer to home… that is, she actually shared a home with her role models, who one might have already guessed to be her parents.

“I think everybody, me in particular when I was younger, was… not really thinking of the bigger picture. [However], the world we live in is evolving, so at some point you’re going to have to change with it,” Rizvi said.

For Rizvi, the primary nexus for this change has been observation of her parents’ philosophies in action. Rizvi describes a recent time where this happened.

“We were by the Rosedale mall, halfway to a restaurant.This guy in front of us lost control of his car. He literally flipped 360 degrees. By the time whatever was happening in front of us was done, his car was basically about to tip over the hill onto the side of the road. Other cars drove by, but we instinctively stopped [our] car and called 911,” Rizvi said.

“One of my dad’s philosophies is that if there’s someone who needs help, don’t think twice; help them out. and that’s something that I value a lot,” Rizvi said.

Rizvi had one word to summarize what she admires in her mom: “responsibility.”

To Rizvi, this responsibility manifests itself in many aspects of her mother’s decisions and ideas. One example she lists is her mother’s return to graduate school.

“My mom went back to school and took on a lot of responsibility,” Rizvi said.

Another, more nebulous point of commendation, to Rizvi, is her mother’s open mindedness, which she considers an element of responsibility.

“If there’s something that’s extremely important, I try to act more mature in the sense that when you’re looking at something, you want to look at it in a whole context, and avoid being narrow minded. [My mom] looks at everything and from there, she’ll make a decision.”