Family & Heritage

I have an older brother and an older sister. My family is from Pakistan, and my older ancestors are from India. However, I can barely speak my parents’ native language (Urdu). I’ve only gone to Pakistan three times in my life, so I don’t have as large a connection with that culture as I would like. This is especially because the last time I went, I found out the hard way that I’m allergic to mangos.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful country Pakistan. I took them when I visited in July 2022. You can probably tell that it is not quite like vacation to the Bahamas or Paris, but it was a great trip, and I want to return soon.

School

My sending school is Westborough High School. You can probably tell from the picture that it's much bigger than MAMS! I’ve lived in Westborough for most of my life, so it was a bit sad to leave my high school after 10th grade. Westborough High School had over 1000 students, and it was sometimes more entertaining to be among such a wide range of people, rather than just having 99 classmates. However, I’m sure I will come to prefer Mass Academy in the future.

I was part of the Indoor and Outdoor Track teams at WHS. There, I ran in the 100m and 200m races, as well as participating in long jump. I also do some long-distance running, although this is for fun rather than for a team.

Movies & TV

One thing I’m passionate about is movies and TV – this is ever since 2022, when I watched a lot of movies in succession on vacation. Movies are probably the most interesting medium for information and narrative storytelling, in that it involves visuals and sound in real time. My favorite movie is probably The Godfather (1972).

Back in 9th grade, I even made a website on them for CS class, called "Raihanmovies". There, I cataloged my favorite movies and a few others, as well as my thoughts on them. Sadly, the website is not online anymore, since the service on which we hosted it now costs money.

Community Service

I’ve frequently done community service at the Helping Hand clothing drive in Westborough. Together, we sort donations of clothes and supplies for refugees in the Middle East, especially in Jordan and Palestine. It’s a great opportunity to work with members of my religious community. It’s also fun despite the hard work, because I'm able to make a tangible impact.

Math

I've been interested in math since I was a little kid. Back then, I would memorize answers to hard problems like "99 × 99," and get my brother to ask me them in front of others, to impress them.

This interest continues to today. In 9th and 10th grade, I was a member of Westborough High School's Math Team, and even was co-captain for a year. It was an amazing learning experience, and I participated in many competitions, including WOCAMAL, MAML, AMC, and AIME.