Getting To Know Head Boy Shayan Rakhshan

 
What is your favourite activity/hobby?
I have a piano and playing it is a great way to get my mind off of things. I lose myself in the music. I’ve been playing for 12 years. I also like taking walks and playing soccer. I play left wing.

A book called Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s quite a heavy non-fiction book, so I’ve been reading a little bit here and there. It details mainly the history of human beings and our present as well. It covers not only how we evolved, but how societal structures and people’s ideas evolve. 

At the moment no, but for Persian New Year it’s customary to get pet goldfish. We get those every year, five or six, and we keep them in a tank.

What is your favourite way to spend a Saturday?
Usually after a long week I like to sleep in. I’m a morning person, but at some point I get tired of mornings! When I wake up I have breakfast with my family and we relax together and finish chores and tasks. At night we either go to a party or sit down together and watch a movie. Our favourite is The Lion King.

I have to say Christmas. The ambience of the holiday makes it feel like every single day of Winter Break is Christmas, especially Christmas Day itself. It’s a very family-oriented holiday, and I love that.

Experience by Ludovico Einaudi. Listening to it is like you’re on a boat, you start off calm and suddenly the water gets very rough, but then it slows down again. 

What is your most treasured possession?
A chain that was my grandmother’s. She gave it to my mom and now it’s mine. It’s an engraving of King Cyrus, the King of Persia 2,500 years ago. It reminds me of the legacy he left behind, which is now in my hands to continue. Any time I feel lost, I just look down and find myself again.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Talking to strangers. It’s a great talent to have. Every stranger has lived his own life, and every interaction you have with a stranger is a nugget of wisdom. 

What do you want to be "when you grow up?"
I’m very interested in the human body, especially the heart and how vital an organ it is, so I want to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. That’s been my goal for the last several years.

What are you looking forward to for your final year?
I’m looking forward to the decrease in COVID-19 restrictions so that we can have the community-building events that I got a glimpse of in grades 9 and 10, such as Friday Night Lights.

What is your favourite memory of Crescent School?
It’s hard to choose just one. One thing that happened over and over that stuck with me: We used to play soccer during lunch last year, no matter what the conditions were. Sometimes even if it was snowing or the field was wet, we would just take our shoes off and play anyway. We were just having fun, being kids while we were kids.

What advice would you give to a Grade 3 Crescent student today?
This was the question I had to think about the most. My advice would be to make as many friends as possible. The younger you make those friends, the closer you become as you get older. And you get better at making friends, too. Every person you meet has lived their own life separate from yours and by becoming friends, you’re gaining insight into their experience, so you become wiser as a result.