Hello!

We are Sally Kim and Shabaan Khokhar, and we are restarting the BRIDGE “Humans of Waterloo Architecture” series. Basically, I will be going around the school and interviewing you with some light questions (there won’t be any emotional intensity like with HONY, I promise) and Shabaan will be taking some “fly on the wall” photographs of you to accompany what you say. We are super excited to get to know our incredibly diverse school community better through this initiative, so try not to run away when we approach you with a camera. See you around sometime!

“What is something you value most?”

“My family. I can’t imagine losing any of them, they are everything to me. There’s my older sister Suzie, and my mom and my dad. I’m really close to them. They are always super far from me, but I am really close to them. My parents — they inspire me. Whenever I get stuck with school projects, or life, they always know exactly what to say. They’ll always tell me that I’ll know exactly what to do if I keep myself happy, and sometimes all that means is to go for a walk, go outside.”

“What’s something you consider very important to you?”

“Off the top of my head, laughter. Because our lives are usually very miserable–it’s the medicine for all the troubles.”

“Is there something that makes you laugh no matter what?”

“…Sally.”

“I’m going as an 80’s Glinda the Good for Halloween. From the original Wizard of Oz. My girlfriend will be matching, she’s going as the Wicked Witch of the West, ‘cause she’s out west! We’ll be virtually matching, taking photos and sending them to one another.”

“How long have you guys been dating?”

“One year! Things like this are how we’ve been maintaining long distance, through matching photos…like I just sent a photo of me with my mom, and she replicated the photo with her and her mom, and then we matched them up and it was just ‘Oh my God!’”

“What’s something that inspires you?”

“I don’t know…can I just be really lame and say that everyone at this school inspires me? I feel like everyone here is such a helpful inspiration. You get so many different fields of people–I think of our school as a small classroom of a hundred different people, versus a university campus where you meet and greet a new person each day. Here, you can really get close relationships, and a chance to get inspired by everyone you meet.”

“What’s something that inspires you?”

“Well, right now I’m actually reading Suzanne Harris-Brandt’s thesis. I’m hoping that it will be related to my studio project. I’m looking at the west bank, reading about clean water problems, agricultural issues and infrastructural problems…there are a lot of problems in the Palestinian territories. Doing good in the world is something that keeps me going in school. Always thinking about the unfortunate people that don’t have much, still living happily without having much, or not as much as we do. Thinking of ways to better their lives, make their lives easier through our field is always something I’m interested in.”

“What’s something that makes you really happy, no matter how much you think about it?”

“Um…whenever I go to a lecture and they bring out the free food.”

“What’s something that always brings a smile to your face?”

“…Without sounding like I’m in a romcom…rain, usually. It makes me very calm. The sound and the feel of the rain–I sleep like a rock in the rain. Storms? Love em. They’re the best to sleep through. Whenever I’ve had to walk home from a late studio deadline, and it’s been raining out, I always instantly feel better. It’s almost like taking a shower, you just feel clean. Everything just goes down the drain with the rain. Or if you’re on a hike, something else that’s guaranteed to make me smile, is the sound of rain in the leaves. It’s the most beautiful sound on the face of the earth.”

“Is there something you do, or listen to, or maybe a person that makes you feel better when you’re down, no matter what?”

“…I’d say Julia going crazy. She just loses it sometimes, in a good way. It could be from literally anything, like a rhythm that gets stuck in her head, something like that. Or seeing something on the street. She’ll just sing, dance or act out. She does it with people she’s close to.”

“What’s the first thing you think of when you think of Kate?”

“That’s a hard question. Mostly just her name, Kate…person. Tall. Woman. Sits to my left. Furry.” (“That’s what three years of friendship gets me.”)

“What do you guys value in each other the most?

“Patience. He’s patient.” “Prompt. As in, I guess, he’s always on time. He’s responsible. But if I say it, maybe it makes him seem irresponsible.”

“What’s something that always makes you guys laugh?”

“Movie quotes. The second that those get thrown out, I’m dying. Just any of the classics, like Pineapple Express. We’ll always find a situation to use one of those.” “Yeah, if you ever can’t think of something to say, and you say a movie quote, then automatically you’re funny.”