Sheehabul

"You can’t wait for motivation … you have to fight and strive for what you want."

By Students of NYC

February 9^th, 2024

"Someone at my mosque was having a seizure, and there were all these people, and no one knew what to do. He lost control and fell down, he was moving all around. I was only thirteen but I knew I had to do something, so I called the ambulance. He was holding onto me as we waited for them to come. It felt like forever. Even the adults, they were just watching. I'm not joking. All these people, and no one stepped in. Once the ambulance got there, they checked him out and said he was OK. He didn’t want to go to the hospital — he just wanted to go home. So I walked with him. On the way to his house, he kept thanking me and before he went into his building he hugged me for a long time. That day, I think it was one of the first times I realized I’m a leader. If there is a situation that feels out of control, I jump in. I think that’s what my teacher, Mr. Haynes, sees in me. He says I have directorial capabilities.

A lot of kids in my school want to go to a performing arts high school, like LaGuardia. Me? I'm not interested, but what I do love is helping them to prepare. I work with Mr. Haynes to help them practice their monologues for their auditions. Some kids will have all this confidence, but then as soon as the camera turns on, they just shy away. So I’ll have little talks with them, like, 'Look, you’re going to become a big star. You have to act like one. You can’t be shy, you have to show yourself.' I keep talking to them until it sparks something and I see it click. They say, 'Yeah, you know what? Let’s do this.' It feels great seeing someone improve like that and know you contributed to it.

When I came to the United States, the only English words I knew were 'yes' and 'no.' I came from Bangladesh in 2016. I wasn’t used to all this stuff — the way the classrooms looked, having all of these ways of teaching, activities. My first year was so hard. And my dad — being an educator himself — he was like, I think he should repeat the grade. But the very next year, the teachers began to see me as a leader. You know, table leader and all that other stuff they do in elementary school. The thing about me is that everywhere I go, I make friends.

I lead a prayer group in the auditorium at lunch. It started small, but now a lot of people come. I’ve always found prayer as a form of discipline. And discipline is key. I hear people say, 'I need motivation.' I’ll ask them, 'Why aren't you doing your homework? What happened?' They’ll say, 'Bro, I’m just not motivated.' I tell them, 'No, you’re not disciplined. You need discipline, and then you will be able to do it.' You can’t wait for motivation … you have to fight and strive to accomplish what you want. The motivation comes later."