Momin Mirza
Date: March 3, 207
Type: Interactive Interview
Location: Momin’s house
Interviewer: Faisal Shariff
Video Recording
User Characteristics:
Male
Junior at Adams High School
Athlete: Track and Cross Country
Father is Professor of Islamic Studies at Notre Dame
Lives in South Bend, IN
Used to live in Granger earlier in childhood. Family moved to Berkley for 5-6 years, and now moved back to South Bend.
Who is Momin?
Momin is a smart, driven, athletic individual. Academics are important to him. He wants to do well in the classroom and be challenged but he also wants to compete at a high level in track and cross country.
What made the difference?
I think that if Clay’s athletic teams were stronger than Momin might have been more inclined to attend Clay.
- How have you liked Adams?
- It was an adjustment moving from Berkley and joining at the beginning of my junior year. It is academically challenging. The IB program especially, there are a lot of guidelines and you have to express your ideas well. The track and cross country teams have been welcoming.
- What made you decide to come to Adams?
- I was choosing between Penn, St. Joe, Clay, Marian, Adams, Riley. IT came down to Adams and Riley. The academics were important and sports were also important to me. I ran cross country in California and was looking for a similar level of competition and team that would push me to improve.
- Some of the decision was based on the fact that IB diploma would look best to colleges
- I used the internet and visited the school websites to see what the campuses were like. I also looked up the timings of the track team to see where I would fit in.
- Proximity of the school to our home and my dad’s work was also something considered.
- Why not Clay?
- Sports teams were lacking, and academics were not as rigorous from what I heard, but one minor thing was my parents didn’t appreciate the mascot being the colonials.
- Imagine for a second that you had lived in the same place for your childhood and had to come to a decision regarding high school choice, how would things be different?
- I think that I would have more friends that are knowledgeable. I would have talked to them more and gotten a better understanding of the school in the area.
- Talk a little bit about diversity and how important it is to you.
- It was a concern of mine. Especially coming from Berkley where I was surrounded by such diversity coming to more conservative Indiana. I felt that Adams was going to be very diverse.
- Did you ever take into consideration the arts when making your decision?
- Not really interested in the Arts
Key quotes:
“Some of the decision was based on the fact that IB diploma would look best to colleges”
“At Clay the sports teams were lacking and the academics were not as rigorous from what I had heard”