Below is a transcript of an address a HWSF Year 13 student, Zain, gave in Westminster Abbey in Nov 2023

My name is Zain, and I am one of the Senate – student council – Vice Presidents here at Harris Westminster. As of right now, I am thoroughly enjoying and making the most of my last year at school, having organised a charity basketball fundraiser for those in Gaza alongside the Sports Committee, captaining my team Uganda to success at the Black History Month football cup hosted by TIRAH and cherishing every morning I spend with my beloved form 13MSH.

Let me take you back to where it all started, the day of my interview. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too nervous that day, as I never expected that I would be coming here. I never thought that I would ever leave my old school. Truth be told, I only applied here because my mother pushed me to. She saw potential in me that I was yet to see within myself. My interview was for English Literature, a subject that will forever have a special place in my heart. I was greeted with a poem that I had to analyse there and then, with little time to think, and even less time to show what I was capable of.

I am a recipient of Free School Meals, I have been throughout my entire secondary education. I come from a single parent household; a household hindered by the financial burdens that continue to weigh it down. There were days that I genuinely feared that I would not be able to afford to come to school, and days where I felt even more guilty for doing so given my tentative situation at home.

I come from East London, Tower Hamlets to be specific. In spite of the slightly tarnished reputation my area has, all the jokes my friends make about it and the sheer chaos that entails growing up there, I take pride in my East London roots, as it is the very place that has moulded me into the person I am today. To say my area is terrible would be to do it a disservice, but it is far from being a place of privilege. Coming from areas such as my own, the very thought of attending a school like Harris Westminster is near impossible to comprehend, and I’m sure many of you can agree with me on this. If you told 16-year-old Zain that he would be standing in Westminster Abbey delivering his own speech to hundreds of people, he would have laughed in your face.

The first few weeks here at Harris Westminster saw my 16-year-old self really struggle. I underwent a culture shock, a shock that genuinely overwhelmed me as I tried my best to navigate through all the changes in my life. I was no longer within the comfort of my old school, but I was also yet to feel comfortable here, at my new school. I went from reciting the lyrics of Santan Dave in the playground, to reading the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy at St Margaret’s Church, from chilling with my friends after school at the chicken and chip shop to walking past the Houses of Parliament on my way home every evening, from religiously wearing my Adidas SST jacket to school, never having owned a suit before, to dressing myself up in a smart blazer, with a smart tie and even smarter shoes, every single day.

This shock was more than just cultural for me, however, as I also struggled to acclimatise to the academic environment here. During my secondary school days, I was always used to cruising at the top of my class, and getting away with doing the bare minimum when it came to my studies. I say this not to brag, but to emphasise the great extent to which I was humbled upon starting here, and how I learnt the value of hard work, the hard way. I even remember contemplating returning to my old school at times. However, all of this was completely necessary, for it was this adversity that facilitated my growth as a person.

I can now say with full confidence that, when thinking about my first year at Harris Westminster, I have the privilege of reminiscing on one of the best years of my life. Year 12 saw me step foot in international law firms, speak at conferences, and have my very own work commended by professors at the university of Cambridge.

When putting myself forward for the Senate in Year 12, my ambition lay within my desire to give back, to the school that took a chance on me, and leave it better than it was when I arrived.

Thank you for listening.

Zain, Year 13