Saviya Quraishi “It’s just a nice place to be.” For Saviya Quraishi, Oakton is a home away from home. As a business major focusing on accounting, she’s found the support she needs to succeed in her classes. And she’s built a strong community of friendship as president of the Muslim Student Association.
“I haven’t always been a big fan of school, but that changed at Oakton. I just love coming here—it’s so peaceful to me, it just relaxes me. It’s because I 100 percent feel like I belong here. This is my place. And everyone here is so nice—I’ve met new friends, and there are so many resources to help you out if you’re struggling. I’ve never really experienced that before—coming into a place and feeling like I just fit; that I can be myself. It feels good.”
A little support goes a long way Saviya hopes to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business, and is starting out strong at Oakton to complete her general education requirements. She hopes to work in the accounting field one day, but faced a challenge when she realized that she’d need extra help in her math courses.
“One of my cousins is in accounting, and he told me that it’s more math than I’d like, but it will get easier as it goes. And I wanted to challenge myself because I'm not great at math. I start to doubt myself, which I know I shouldn't because in high school my sophomore year, I was perfect in math. But then junior year hit and it went all downhill. And I know for a lot of people, if they have one bad experience as a young person in math, they give up. I mean, I totally relate to that. And I didn’t want that to be my story. When I started at Oakton, I tested into developmental math. After I started classes, I saw so much improvement. I did a special two-week summer session and I didn’t think it was going to get me anywhere. But the professor was very helpful. And I took the placement test again, and I couldn't believe my eyes because I did so much better. And now I feel a lot more confident.”
Finding friendship changes everything Saviya is proud to be a student employee at the Oakton Bookstore and the Des Plaines Student Center. She applied to the roles on a whim, but found much more than she expected when she met new people who have become close friends.
“When I was working in the Bookstore I met the advisor for the Muslim Student Association and I started helping out. And I just love MSA. I love doing the work for it, like making flyers, making a list of people who want to join, and planning events. It’s a community of members, non-members, Muslims and non-Muslims. Everyone is so inviting. And I met two close friends—we just connected by talking about MSA, and planning. And now we do everything together. I’m so grateful.”
