ME!!!

I was recently musing about blogger duties with fellow admissions blogger Ekiria when we realized, I NEVER INTRODUCED MYSELF TO YOU GUYS!  We kinda just jumped into this and didn’t even think to tell a bit about ourselves!  I believe she’s already taken care of it on her blog, so I’ve decided it’s my time to finally share a bit about myself.  If it becomes tedious after a while, I’m sorry!  I tend to rant as you may know, particularly when I’m talking about myself…

So my name is Shireen, and I’m a Middle Eastern Studies major from New City, NY.  New City is about a half hour or so from NYC, so I do NOT live upstate.  That’s a key distinction.  My father is originally from Iran, and my mother is Italian-American, from Long Island.  Interesting mix, no?  I identify equally with both sides, and I am very proud of my odd mix of ethnicities. 

As a result, I’m very interested in history, international affairs, and languages.  I absolutely love learning languages.  My goal would be to learn every language ever spoken, but I’m pretty sure that’s impossible—though it won’t stop me from trying!  As of now, I’ve learned French, Italian, and Persian (Farsi).  Notice that I said I learned them, I don’t speak them.  I’m pretty close to fluency in French and Italian, but I’ve got a long way to go in Farsi.  Once I tackle those, I hope to master Arabic and Spanish, and maybe Russian one day if I’m really ambitious.  But for now I’ll stick to my first three.

I’m also really into art.  Or the arts, rather.  I love drawing and painting(ish… I’m better at drawing).  My favorite media are chalk, oil pastel, and graphite.  I like colored pencil too but I have a short fuse with them.  I also really like to write, as you may be able to tell, and I read when I get a chance.  My favorite author, as I’ve previously mentioned, is Toni Morrison.  I absolutely love her.  Also, when I get a chance, I love to horseback ride and play soccer.  But I rarely get a chance anymore :(

Hmmm what else is there?  I like traveling—but then again, who doesn’t?  Though I’d take a tourist-y history-y museum-y extravaganza over a tropical beach vacation ANY DAY.  I’m way into that cultural junk. 

OH!  My favorite color is purple.  When I was young I used to pick purple flowers and just carry them around.  (Yeah, I was a weird kid.  So much has changed!)  And my favorite color combination is purple & gold.  Not many people have a favorite color combination, eh?  Well I do.  It’s just so pretty and regal, ya know? 

That seems to be it.  If anything dire comes up, I’ll update you guys.  Thanks for listening, though!  And as always, email me with anything and everything!  ShireenS@gwmail.gwu.edu.

<3 Shireen