Hafeeza Rahman decided during her first year of high school that she wanted to be valedictorian of her graduating class. From the time she was a child, her parents encouraged her to write out her goals and ambitions for the future. Rahman says her academic achievements are particularly meaningful since she is the first in her family to attend college.

“I really worked for this,” she said. “I want to be an example for my brothers.”

FIU is so proud to welcome this ambitious young woman to the Golden Panther family that we’re featuring her in an ad campaign in The Miami Herald. Recently, we met with Hafeeza and asked her a few questions about herself and her future plans.

Here is an excerpt of the interview:

What it took to be the best in my class: Everyone in my class was very competitive. Besides taking AP classes and honors classes, I took college courses and did an internship. I was also SGA president.

On starting college at FIU:
It’s exciting. Today in the Graham Center there were people playing hip hop music and people playing the violin.

Where I see myself in five years:
In law school. I would love to go to Washington, D.C., and ultimately be involved in politics.

My dream:
I would love to be president of the United States to show what a minority woman can achieve.

“I value and appreciate diversity. At FIU I’m looking forward to making friends from all over the world.”

Here is video clip of her interview:

To view the ad, which ran in the August 13th issue of The Miami Herald, please click here to download a PDF file.

You may download Adobe Acrobat Reader from here if needed to view the file.