NAFAS MASSIR

A global citizen in the making

As a Grade 5 student, Nafas is enthusiastic about every opportunity to learn and be part of the PC community. She is one of the two Grade 5 representatives on the Junior and Middle School Student Committees. She has developed her public speaking skills as part of the Speaking Club, and has made presentations about topics she is passionate about. This fall she presented about Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour’s song “Baraye...” and the sensation it created globally. After hearing the song on the radio, Nafas was curious to learn more about the meaning behind the song, and researched the song and the protests in Iran it was inspired by. It is no wonder that her teacher Alex Au Yong describes her as thoughtful and articulate.

She is just as passionate about the PC community as she is about learning. She describes the learning environment as friendly and inspirational. “It feels like everyone is family, and I am motivated by the other students.” As an example Nafas points to a Grade 5 visit to Grade 10 English, where they were able to listen to presentations about world issues including climate change. “We are learning about being global citizens, and how we can learn more about issues that are happening.”

An excerpt from Nafas’ Speaking Club presentation:

In Iran a 25-year-old male singer named Shervin Hajipour started working on a new song about what is happening in Iran. The people of Iran started a protest because of an innocent girl who was captured and killed by so-called “morality police” for not having a proper hijab while walking in the street. He released his song on September 28, 2022, and the song quickly took off because it touched many hearts and souls of Persians. The song has been nominated for the Grammy Music Award and it has received 95,000 submissions.

The song is called “Baraye…” which means “For…” and it talks about why the people are protesting and why they have a right. Many singers are singing this song because it means a lot to them and is a way to express their concerns for their people. This is a very meaningful song and I encourage you to listen to it with English subtitles.