by Kathleen Whalen
Editorial Editor 
    A dream day in the life of senior Autefeh Sajjadi includes the beach, go-kart racing, and lasertag. “I’m a very active person…and I love doing crazy things,” says the self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie. Sajjadi’s adventurous exterior is only a preview of the smart, funny, and fascinating person beneath. 

    Sajjadi lived in Edina, Minnesota, until the age of ten, when she and her family moved to Los Gatos. “Everything was indoors there because it snows so much,” she recalls. While the weather may have changed, Sajjadi’s love for soccer remained constant. With roots in the sport that began at age four, she played on a club team through middle school and became junior varsity captain at LGHS. “I miss it so much,” she says of the sport, which she can no longer play due to several injuries.

    However, Sajjadi finds plenty of other ways to feed her insatiable taste for physical activity. She has been trying to get her skydiving license. “I’ve already done it once, and I think it would just be fun to have,” she says. Adventure runs in the family: her older brother races motorcycles and her dad flies small planes, resulting in her wish to obtain both motorcycle and flying licenses in the future. The family also takes trips that include rock climbing, camping, and kayaking, which evokes her favorite memory: “jumping off a 70 foot cliff in Maui.” Though it was a daunting height, Sajjadi claims that the adrenaline mitigated her fear. “Autefeh is great to be around because she can find fun in any situation,” says senior Scott Canepa.

    Another favorite memory of Sajjadi’s was visiting Rome. “There’s so much history there…I like history as a topic more than a class. But I’m actually a big science nerd.” Sajjadi aspires to become a doctor, as her interests lie in anatomy and physiology. She would love to attend NYU or Columbia University, but will probably stay in California due to family.

    Like her family, which consists of her parents and three older brothers, Sajjadi’s religion plays a pivotal role in her life, namely her Muslim headscarf that she has worn since third grade to preserve modesty. Though it is optional, Sajjadi has kept it because she “came to realize that it was and is a part of me, and that without my scarf I wouldn't be me. Being the only person that wears a scarf in LG puts a lot of pressure on me because I want to make sure I give off the right image of Islam since it is already looked so down upon.”

    After 9/11 was an especially difficult time, and Sajjadi experienced prejudice in many areas such as at school and on the soccer field. Years later, she acknowledges that “there is still a crapload of ignorance in the world, even in our own little LG bubble.” But she does her best to defy expectations: “I kinda went through an epiphany in the 9th grade and realized that I don't need to be restricted by anything, and that just because I'm wearing a scarf doesn't mean I can't do things other people can. So, I became super outgoing and I met tons of new people and that's when I became pretty extroverted. I definitely feel confident with my scarf and my self because I have come to terms with my soul, I know I'm different and I acknowledge that that is absolutely okay.” Senior Ravi Garcia notes that “Autefeh doesn't conform to anybody elses expectations. She does whatever she wants, and she's happy doing it.”

    Autefeh’s independent nature and adventurous personality are the traits of one who truly lives her life to the fullest.