Just keep biking by Maham

Just keep biking by Maham - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

It is ignorance that causes one to hate another.
I volunteer at a children’s hospital on Wednesdays and Fridays. Sometimes, I go through public transit, but often I bike. I enjoy the way the world seems to pass by; On the lake path everyone seems to be in sync, and without any disturbances or distractions, I know I can go full speed. One Friday afternoon during my blissful bike route down the lakefront, I stopped at a red light on the sidewalk. Cars zoomed right past me, and spit flew right at me.
I instinctively turned my head to my right, where a man stood with a cap covering his eyes. His head tilts towards me, and he yells, “Get out of this country!” The signal changes, and he casually walks right past me. Meanwhile, my eyes sting with tears, my teeth clench to my tongue, and my red palms grip the handles of my bike tightly. The girls to the right of me stare but don't dare to comfort me. Two men watch me from the comfort of their car, as I struggled to pedal across the street.
Time froze at that moment. Plastered on my left cheek like a fresh burn was the spit of the unknown man, who humiliated me. He despised me for the brown skin that my ethnicity bestowed on me and for the hijab that I wore with pride. I tried to digest how someone I never met could hold such animosity towards me while knowing nothing about my life. For all we know, I could have been en route to aid his niece or nephews by giving them water at their bedside or answering phone calls placed by his friends and family. This man is like so many others in this country who made the conscious decision to spew negativity instead of embracing diversity.
If a man can spit at me, that gives me the reason to be courteous and respectful. I am motivated to get back on my bike and pedal faster. Pedal to spark a change in someone's day. Through offering a cup of water, or through a simple smile. When I volunteer at the hospital, I meet patients and visitors who have the same ideology as the man who spat at my face. I respond to their narrow minds and ignorance by offering them assistance in walking up and down hallways, as they are in need of exercise after surgery. I change people’s thoughts about my identity the second the elevator doors open and I ask them how their day has been. Smiles flourished across the faces of patients, visitors, and faculty, every morning as they see me sitting at the nursing station beaming with excitement; they keep me motivated to volunteer almost as much as my encounter with the man who spat at me.
Through experience, I have learned that nothing is strong enough to push me down. There is always a learning opportunity in everything: In every bad situation as well as in good ones. To get back up stronger than before is the best part of it all.