Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am from West Omaha and grew up in Elkhorn. I graduated from Elkhorn High. My family are Afghans, and my mother fled the Soviet invasion in 1981 and came to Omaha.
What are you studying at the university and what are your future plans?
I’m a double major in economics and music. The music is more specifically trombone performance. I also minor in mathematics. After college, I’m planning to pursue both law school and a doctoral economics program in a JD-PhD joint degree.
How will working at the PPC help you work towards your goals for the future?
Public policy is integral to the areas in which I want to specialize beyond college. I’m therefore grateful to the PPC for letting me help them as a URA and gain as much research experience as possible as I prepare for grad school.
What is something you feel passionate about?
I’m passionate about the arts and supporting them. One way I stay involved is as the Fine Arts College’s only senator in UNL student government, where I won a write-in campaign back in March. I also serve on the Nebraska Arts Council as its youngest member in history; I was confirmed by the Unicameral back in June.
What is something that has helped make you the person you are today?
One thing that helped me transition into my PPC work is my experience having been an intern in Congressman Bacon’s Omaha office. Representative Bacon and his staff were such amazing supervisors and mentors, and I feel like that experience allowed me to move into a research environment with a less abstract conception of what policy is and does.