Afifah Zeeshan readily admits she was shy when she started attending Discovery Canyon Campus as a fourth grader; it was not the way she was previously described, and not at all what her personality is today.

“As a little girl, I was pretty spontaneous, but I became shy, I think, from moving here from California; it was a brand new school, a brand new environment, and I quieted down a lot. Once I got into speech and debate my parents recognized that I was back,” she said. That reticent child is now just a memory for Zeeshan and her family.

She said, “I was lucky enough to take a speech and debate class. The teacher was so much fun that I ended up joining the speech and debate club. My friend and I paired up for the 2×2 event, and we were so competitive together that we thought we’d never stop doing it. I surprised myself at how direct I could be.”

Zeeshan said her parents had always told her she should become a lawyer because she could always find loopholes.

Zeeshan does envision a career as an attorney, specifically assisting the underserved. She plans to attend the University of California, San Diego, to study political science and public policy. Toward her goal, she participated in a mock trial program at Stanford University and volunteered for Teen Court.

In her Best and Brightest essay, Zeeshan wrote, “My long-term vision is to create balance in a broken (legal) system and push for reform where humanity and justice are valued over rigid judgment.”

Zeeshan said she will most miss the mentors and community she has had at DCC. “I have a mentor at the high school who used to be a prosecutor, so it will be a shock for a while knowing I won’t be seeing these people. Plus, in all my classes, I’ve found such sweet people; it’s a very uplifting community; there’s stability that you don’t always find. Also, I learned to focus on community through the student senate (student government). It has a family sense, and I loved that. It’s shaped the leader that I am today.”

As for what she is looking forward to, Zeeshan said she has two things in particular she is excited about: one she described while laughing, and the other she stated in a more serious tone. “First, I love food and California has a lot of great cuisine,” she said. “But I really adore helping people. Being in a bigger city, I know I’ll see a lot more ways to directly impact more people. I really like hearing about other people’s stories and how they got to where they are.”

Although she identified several activities and achievements of which she’s proud, she said, “I’m proudest of becoming more outgoing in my personality. I’m so proud of how the little kid in me grew into who I am now. I’ve been able to find myself and I’ve learned to be more forgiving of myself.”

Then, as an afterthought, she added, “I’m also proud of doing so well in state public forum debates. Those were ‘I made it moments’.”