When Raeyan Mohamed surveyed the wall of previous valedictorians at McMath secondary, no one really looked like her.
She is Black and Muslim and wears a hijab.
So, having been chosen as the 2021 Valedictorian at her school, she hopes to set an example for other minority groups that they can also achieve what she has.
“Younger students who look like me, they can know those things are possible, those achievements are possible for them as well,” Raeyan. “(They know) that they have the opportunity to grow and learn at McMath.”
In Grade 8, Raeyan made the decision herself to start wearing a hijab.
A hijab is a symbol of modesty and a way to express herself, Raeyan explained, and it allows people to look at her beyond just the surface level.
“When people look at me, they see more than just my features, my body - they know me for my heart, my soul, my intelligence, my mind, my personality,” she said.
Raeyan said the graduating class of 2021 at McMath was very outspoken about world issues, like global warming and racial injustice.
And her message to her graduating class in her address was that they can overcome anything - that “we are the generation of change.”
“We can be an inspiration to the world and make the changes that are very much possible,” Raeyan said.
Input into antiracism working group
Seeing books and movies at school showing people of diverse backgrounds would help pave the way for all students to see they, too, can succeed in a variety of ways.
This was some of the feedback Raeyan gave to the Richmond School District’s Diversity and Antiracism Working Group this week.
Young students are impressionable and not seeing themselves represented in material used in classrooms can limit their career path, she added.
As the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining strength across North America, the school district struck this working group to address racism in the school district and is currently undergoing a racism audit to survey students, parents and employees about any experiences they’ve had with bias, discrimination and racism.
Quebec not an option
Raeyan will be studying nursing at the University of Ottawa this fall, but when she was exploring university options, she realized McGill or other universities in Quebec wouldn’t be open to her – simply because she wears a hijab.
Quebec passed a law in 2019 saying no one can be hired into public service in any position of authority if they wear an outward symbol of their religion.
“I was so limited - I couldn’t even apply to that province,” Raeyan said.
Her question to Quebec is what they see so threatening about wearing outward religious symbols.
Raeyan received several scholarships for her studies this fall, for example, an entrance scholarship from the University of Ottawa.
In addition, she received the Gillian Cooper Leadership Award as well as the parent advisory council’s scholarship and the student council scholarship.
