Nadia Bashier, a junior at Glendora High School, demonstrates the power of activism as she uses her voice to advocate for others and inspire change within her community.
An avid youth activist, Bashier reflects on the reason why she gravitated towards politics and activism.
“I grew up Arabic-American in a very white town, so ever since elementary school [I] have experienced ostracization to some extent…I’ve always seen that there was something that I needed to do to change my community”, as she recounts.
Politics and youth activism gave Bashier a voice which she intended to help others with.
The summer before freshman year is when she truly got involved, due to Jessica Chiriboga, a GHS alumna, introducing her to the Youth and Government program.
“And through there I met so many more, hundreds and hundreds, of passionate teens who inspired me to continue bringing activism and politics in different aspects of my life and go for more positions and volunteer”, she recalls.
At that moment, Y&G kick-started Bashier’s political journey.
Soon, she became involved with programs like Sunrise L.A. Youth, an organization dedicated to spreading awareness and ending climate change.
Through SLAY, Bashier helped plan the “Step Up Alex Padilla” action which asked Senator Padilla to support the Civilian Climate Corp and the No Fossil Fuel pledge. After meeting with Padilla, Bashier and her colleagues were victorious and convinced him to commit and sign their pledge.
The magnitude of Bashier’s impact goes beyond her work with SLAY and reaches Glendora students as well. She serves as the Student Representative to the GUSD board of education which means that she works with the board to assure that students’ voices are heard.
“We deserve to have our voices out there. I can speak for the board of education on this, they really want to hear student voices over parents and adults,” comments Bashier. “You should go [to meetings], make your voice heard, and practice civic engagement. In doing that, you’ve made an impact”.
Bashier plans to continue making an impact by running for Vice President of ASB in the upcoming election.
At the core of Bashier’s passion is her desire to amplify the voices of others.
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