Nadia Raza

Graduated 2017

Hadi School helped me become a leader by teaching the 7 (or 8) Habits. I can still list all the habits off the top of my head, and I’ve learned so much from them. Also the Lighthouse Team helped encourage me to engage in leadership activities.

Hadi School helped me become a successful Muslim by giving me a strong Islamic background. I’ve learned Islamic history, Arabic, Quran, and much more from Hadi School.

From Hadi School, I learned how to be more independent and manage my time. “Put First Things First”, the third habit, has been used a lot during and after my time at Hadi School.

I learned the following from the seven habits: How to step up and take responsibility, Habit #1, Be Proactive. How to make plans and think before acting, Habit #2, Begin with the end in mind. Time management from Habit #3, Put First Things First. I use Think Win-Win with my siblings and friends if they are having an argument. I try to find a way that both people can “win”. I’m not prejudiced to others because I use Seek First to Understand Then Be Understood. I try my best not to judge others and understand them.

I would tell Hadi School students to work hard and stay motivated. Managing your time well is key to being successful in school. It’s also important to be open to new people and perspectives.

My transition to public school was honestly difficult. Academically, I was doing great. I had been put into Accelerated classes because of Hadi School’s teaching. Socially, however, I didn’t do so well. I had been at Hadi School for about ten years before going to public school. That’s a long time, especially when I hadn’t met any new people. Essentially, I forgot how to socialize. I was very introverted and didn’t talk much during my seventh and eighth grade. When I got to high school though, I had learned enough social skills to be comfortable meeting with new people.

I am very comfortable wearing the hijab. I wear it everywhere I go, and people have been very nice to me about it. I have heard about people being bullied about wearing hijab, and that scared me when I first went to public school. But I realized that people were very kind about it, even though I suspect they didn’t know much about why I wore it.

In junior high, the workload wasn’t as much as Hadi School’s. It was about the same, maybe a bit more. Certain projects required more time, but I felt comfortable with the amount of time and energy. I really enjoyed doing science projects because I had lots of experience preparing for those with the Science and Islam competition. High school workload was definitely a lot more, but manageable since I can organize my time well.

I miss the friends I made at Hadi School the most. The students and the teachers. I also miss going to the library and the Farmer’s Market, and participating in Science and Islam competitions. I also really loved Habitat Day, because it was a fun way to see the progress in other classrooms.

Making new friends and meeting new people were the hardest part of my transition to public school.

When I was at Hadi School, the basketball team was only just introduced. I think that continuing to have the team and interact with other schools and new people, it would be very helpful to graduates of Hadi School to learn new social skills. Another thing would be to help graduates see how large schools are. Hadi School is rather small compared to public schools, so it would be helpful to show students what they may be going into.

I think my most memorable moment at Hadi School would be graduation. It was a very impactful moment in my life and I remember it very well.

Present School: William Fremd High School

Awards After Leaving Hadi School:

• NJHS Cords (8th Grade)
• Gold Medal in Speech Festival (8th Grade)
• Academic Excellence Award (8th Grade)

Advanced Coursework: 

9th Grade

• Honors Biology
• Spanish 2
• Honors English
• AP Human Geography
• Culinary Arts I
• Honors Geometry

10th Grade

• Chemistry
• Spanish 3
• AP European History
• Honors Algebra 2
• Honors English
• Culinary Arts 2

Extracurricular Activities: 

• Fencing
• Culinary Club (last year)
• NJHS (in Jr High)
• Student Board (in Jr High)