Payvand Seyedali
 |
|
||||||||||
Lake Washington High School
Hometown: Redmond
College: University of Washington or the University of California, Berkeley
Payvand Seyedali believes she hasn't accomplished anything big. "I try to work on the little things," she says, like making people smile or giving them a pat on the back. "That's what I think can make a difference." The 18-year-old cheerleader volunteers at Sunrise Medical/Rehabilitation Center, sends money and writes letters to a needy child in India through Childhood International, and eats lunch with and mentors an elementary-school student once a week through the Lunch Buddy program.
She inspired plenty of smiles at school this spring when she organized a pingpong tournament for staff and students, secretly matching partners from different groups who otherwise might not associate with each other. More than 140 people participated.
"I tried to think of the one thing that all types of people have in common, and I just thought pingpong. Everybody likes pingpong."
Career goal: Nancy Miller, a social-studies teacher, believes Seyedali's background gives her a head start in reaching her goal to work as a United Nations diplomat. Of Iranian heritage, Seyedali spent her first through eighth grades in an expatriate community in Indonesia. The 4.0 student speaks English, Farsi, Indonesian, and has a working knowledge of French.
Greatest influences: The teachings of Muhammad and Jesus Christ, and her father, who introduced her to the Muslim faith and taught her the value of giving.
Advice for younger students: "Act from the heart; I don't think anything can go wrong when you put your heart in it."
- Ray Rivera