Interview with someone different

Tarek Mohamed Nouradine Fathy Shalaby is an 18 year-old Kuwait born Muslim male who is a freshman at the University at Albany this year. He was born to Sawsan and Mohamed Shalaby in Kuwait City, Kuwait on August 11, 1989. He has 3 siblings, a brother from a previous marriage, his twenty year-old sister Yasmine and 8 year-old brother Omar. They all have lived together with their parents their entire lives.

Shalaby’s mother is Palestinian and his father Egyptian. When asked where he is from, he says that he is Egyptian. He explained that and Arab child takes on the nationality and religion of the father regardless of where he/she is born. He is a U.S citizen but also a citizen of Egypt because of his dad. The first place the family went after immigrating to the U.S.A was Virginia. They lived there until Shalaby was in the 3rd grade. Then they moved to Queens until he was in the 5th grade and he attended junior high and high school in Roslyn, Long Island. He says that his parents get bored of certain cities and like to travel. They are currently in Florida at one of the homes they own.

Shalaby has never lived in or even visited Kuwait. His parents left the city when he was 6 months old because of the coming Gulf War. He has family in Jordan, Egypt, an aunt in Kuwait and another in London. He is just like his parents with his passion for traveling. Arabic, Spanish and English are the 3 languages he speaks but he said he spoke 3 and a half languages. The half is French; his parents want him to learn it. He is self aware and his friends would call him conceited. “I like the way I look” says Shalaby, with his honey colored skin and straight glossy black hair. He is tall with a burly frame. He personifies youth and happiness but his statement of “I’m not afraid to die” shows an underlying sorrow that is felt for the Middle East from U.S soil.

An interesting statement made by Shalaby was “I don’t like journalists, American journalists. They are biased. Their goal is to make my people look bad. Why would I like them?” That statement provoked the question, do you follow the news and how? He replied that he gets his news from the paper everyday, the Daily News. He doesn’t listen to the radio, just music on his ipod video and he doesn’t use the internet as a source of news. Shalaby stated that internet news is all about celebrities.

When asked what he will major in, he says, “right now, human biology, to go to med school but I’m thinking about being a teacher. I like kids.” He says that being a doctor is his father’s dream and his mom doesn’t mind his profession as long as he is happy. As a part time job Shalaby works with the Liberty Partnership Program as a tutor to middle school kids from the Albany area. He expresses deep concern for the child he is assigned to and speaks of him as his own family member.

When asked who he believed would be the next President, he said, “probably Clinton because of her husband and America is more ready for a female than black president.” The conversation went on to abortion and he started with “it’s her choice” then said no, the decision should be met by the mom and dad of the fetus with no input from anyone else unless their opinion was asked for. His ideal family is a married couple who is wealthy or a little over economic stability with good jobs. The kids should come after they can be afforded. This is because “kids born out of wedlock are miserable” he said. “Single parent homes can cause damage.” For someone who has “no tolerance for ignorance,” he isn’t careful with his words. It seems that he says the first thing that pops into his head. But anyone can have an easy conversation with him, no matter their religious background or economic status. He said that he does not judge when making friends. He also said that he has been interviewed by a lot of people so this was nothing.