Panther Prints | Issue 2 | December 2019

@PESHPRINTS Feature • 9
PANTHER PROFILE
Transfer student challenges
himself in new environment
by Makayla Herron
efore moving to Texas from Saudi Arabia
Bin May 2018, senior Bader Dawood expected
to find the state filled with deserts,
horses and cowboys, but he soon learned
that wasn’t the case. As a transfer student,
he had to advance his language skills whilst
growing accustomed to his new, and slightly
surprising, home.
“I thought [America] was going to be like
the movies,” Dawood said. “I learned not to
trust movies [after moving here].”
Dawood found several differences between
Saudi Arabia and the United States,
including the way students spend time with
friends. There he could rent a room, comparable
to event rooms in the U.S, with his
friends to play cards or video games whereas
here he stays at home or plays soccer with
his brothers.
“When we wanted to hang out [in Saudi
Arabia] there [were] more options than here,
but most of the places [here] close early, so
it’ll be hard to go out at night,” Dawood said.
“The biggest shock I had when I came to
[the] U.S. was how the two sexes communicate.
In Saudi Arabia we cannot do that; we
Ultimate Frisbee takes off
Club participates in first state competition
by Jad Baajour
he Ultimate Frisbee Club is official-
making its way up the ladder this
Tly
spring, competing at a state level for
the first time. Senior Luke Stipanovic
founded the club in 2017 and
since then the club has grown
in members and popularity,
providing the team with
enough highly-skilled players
to compete.
“It makes me really happy
[to know that] we’ve roped in
more people over the years,”
Stipanovic said.
Ultimate Frisbee Club appeals
to students as an outlet
from academic stress.
The club now has around
25 students, many of them
being in organizations
outside of frisbee.
“A majority of us, when we
started the club, were in IB,
so there was a lot of stress
involved,” IB senior Peter
Ngo said. “Just being able
to go out there and play a sport with
your friends takes a lot of stress off
can’t even have a girlfriend.”
After moving he took a language exam,
which indicated his proficiency in English was
limited. However, his ESL teacher, Jamie Zellner,
watched him grow over the last year and
feels content with how well he adapted.
“I would say he is not afraid of challenges,”
Zellner said. “[He wants] to take classes
[that] are not always the easiest. He
would often choose a [non-]ESL class just to
push himself.”
In the future Dawood plans to stay in the
United States and hopes to attend the University
of Texas at Dallas, where he would like
to major in cybersecurity.
“[I feel] proud of myself,” Dawood said.
“I’ve come a long way to reach my goals.”
Zellner also feels proud of the hard work
he’s put in to improve his language skills and
thinks his work ethic will follow him to college.
“I would say he’s definitely one of the
more ambitious students that we have,”
Zellner said. “He wants to push himself. He’s
always going to do the best that he can do
and always come to ask what he can do to
make it better.”
my shoulders.”
Stipanovic and Ngo have experience
at the national level after playing
on Texas’ U-20 Ultimate Frisbee team.
They plan to use this to their advantage
when leading their team to the
Photo by Carla Avelar
Members of the Ultimate Frisbee Club toss the frisbee during a match Dec. 4.
Photo by Makayla Herron
Senior Bader Dawood reads during his fourth
period English class Dec. 3.
state tournament.
“We hope to separate out players
who are really invested in the sport
and find those people that will be making
the final cut for the state
team,” Stipanovic said. “We’ll
be holding practices, paying
more attention to detail than
we usually do, and just giving
some extra advice.”
One of the aspects of ultimate
frisbee the club utilizes
is something called
“spirit of the game”, which
essentially emphasizes the
importance of sportsmanship
while playing at a highly
competitive level.
“It makes me feel like a
part of this new community
that I wasn’t a part of before,”
IB senior and player
Madison Kanjanasim said.
“It’s just great that we got
to meet all these new people
and create bonds with
them through the sport.”