What is a personal value that you think is extremely important?

“In the long run, it’s being there for my family. In this day and age, I see people grow up, get older, and kind of abandon their parents once they’re older. They seem to forget that those were the people who raised them and took care of them for all of those years.

In Pakistan, your parents invest everything in you. They’ll pay for your entire college education for you, they’ll work their butts off their whole lives to do that, and give you everything. They do all of this in the hopes that, in return, you’ll be there to take care of them in their old age.

It’s funny how that works. When you’re young, you need your parents there to help you out and take care of you. Then once they’re older, those same kids end up taking on the role of taking care of them.”

Was there anything else that really struck you when you arrived in the U.S.?

“Well, it’s always a mixed bag when you change locations. First of all, I did have more freedom coming here. That’s one of the great things about being here in the United States, I wouldn’t deny that. I have a lot of freedom to be myself as an individual, to practice what I want to practice, to study what I want to study, and to just be who I want to be.

However, I do feel like there’s a lack of diversity coming here, which sounds funny saying that because the U.S. is known for being a country of immigrants and many cultures.

But, for me, I feel like there’s a sense of that all getting watered down. People here are so individualistic that they kind of do their own thing, and it felt like I had less of a group community to fall back on. I found it kind of hard to find my group of people here.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, I got to meet a bunch of different people from all kinds of places who brought all sorts of different perspectives to the group, whether it be through humor or just telling me their experiences and other ways.

My friends in Saudi were so diverse and they had so much to share; I feel like that shaped the basis for who I am. I believe that you are the sum of your experiences and, somewhat vicariously, the sum of others’ experiences. So you meet somebody and they share some of the aspects of their life that might change the way you think.

I wish it was more like that here, with people willing to be more open to share things like that. People here socialize and talk well, but I’m not sure what it is: whether they’re afraid to open up to people or seeming like they’re too self-involved or something like that. It’s funny because I personally love hearing about people and what they do. It helps me continue to shape my identity.”

– Zak Khan

Beneath The Crown was created by Nick Theisen (‘15). It is inspired by Humans of New York (HONY) and aims to bring the community of Gustavus Adolphus College closer together by providing the perspectives of the many different people who live and work at the school.