Cornell is calling to BBHS top scholar
July 3, 2024 at 11:05 p.m.
Zoeya Suhail was full of chipper laughs while chatting over an iced drink at The Producer Coffee Studio. “I’m that person,” she’d often declare with silliness as she described herself and the place she holds in the lives of the community around her.
She was “that child” growing up, consistently nagging her parents about the specific mechanics of household technology. Eager to know exactly how tools like a printer work, she rarely got an answer as detailed as she sought.
She is “that friend” who regularly breaks out into song. As her social circle knows, two words could be muttered that remind Suhail of a tune, and her serenade in response will become inevitable.
And on June 20, at the Blind Brook High School graduation ceremony, she was “that student” who was able to walk across the stage at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College to accept her diploma as one of the top two scholars of the Class of 2024.
“When I first found out, it was so shocking. I had to read the email once or twice like, ‘this isn’t real,’” Suhail recalled a few days before commencement of learning about her top scholar status. “But then, I felt this satisfaction. Like dang, all my hard work, it really led to this moment. And I got really excited; I’m so proud of myself.”
Graduating as a top scholar is no easy feat—Blind Brook High School is competitive. And Suhail credits that energy for pushing her towards success, which is now taking her to one of the Ivies. In the fall, she will be attending Cornell University.
“Blind Brook is a really competitive school. Just with APs and everything people do; everyone is competing against each other in a way. It doesn’t always feel that way with friends, obviously, but you know deep down that we’re all competing,” Suhail laughed, noting it was a culture she embraced. “It made me push myself, because they push me. It’s never a feeling of people are comparing grades and constantly talking about it, it’s not uncomfortable, but it’s this ingrained feeling in the environment where everyone is striving to be the best they can be.”
And at the end of the day, it worked. She’s happy with the person she’s become.
Suhail is a product of two tight knit communities—Blind Brook, a school district that fosters togetherness due to its small in numbers nature, and her family friends made through the Indian Center of Westchester.
As her parents moved to the U.S. for their careers and ultimately established New York as home, Suhail’s Indian culture is crucial to her identity. And she considers the community they’ve established through the center family, particularly because most of her relatives don’t live in the States.
“We do everything together, we go on yearly trips and we’re always there for birthdays and holidays,” she said. “Everyone comes from different states in India, so we celebrate different holidays and speak different languages. But we still celebrate all of it together. So, it’s like our own little family that we’ve created.”
The community center helped her foster a bond with her roots, too. Taking classes in classical Hindustani singing and Indian dancing, she found both a connection to the culture and ways to relate to family members who aren’t in America, who she typically visits for a few weeks every summer.
The Blind Brook Schools community is similarly close, she described. Starting in the school district when she was in the second grade, she appreciates how with less than 100 graduates, it’s a class where everyone knows each other.
“It’s bittersweet to get to the end. With all these end of year activities like prom and graduation, it feels a lot more special because we all did everything together,” she said. “I got this experience where I got to know everyone. Even if I’m not friends with everyone, I got to know them at some point. And next year, I’m going to a big college, so I like that I got to experience something small first.”
Her close friendships and high-point memories were established through extracurricular activities. Invested in the debate team, she competed during her freshman and sophomore years before realizing she was more interested in the activity academically. So, she got into teaching—coaching the middle school team and working with high schoolers’ afterschool program for Ridge Street School students.
Memorable moments—both for the students and the district—were also made through her four years playing volleyball, particularly the “unreal, insane” fall 2022 season that saw the varsity squad winning the sectional championship for the first time.
Academically, Blind Brook High School supported Suhail’s passion for STEM, which is ultimately shaping her future.
She realized at a young age she gravitated toward math and science classes—loving coding games as a child and always studying for her math exams before others because that was the “fun work.” And in the realm of STEM, she discovered computer science as the passion she’d like to pursue. It checks a lot of boxes.
“I like how with computer science, you’re creating something, you have control in creating something, and then you can see your vision come to life. It’s kind of its own form of art, but it’s also very logical,” she said.
She was always interested in the field, and then taking courses at Blind Brook High School showed the career premise could be a reality—it’s work she can do, and she enjoys.
Cornell University was an attractive option because of the multifaceted programs they offer in the field. At the Ivy League school, students can pursue two different computer science programs through either the Engineering or the Arts and Sciences schools. To Suhail, the options signified that the university prioritizes the studies.
She will be going through the engineering program, and since her acceptance, she couldn’t help but notice another reality of the field: the lack of women.
“It definitely makes me a little nervous to be entering a less diverse field, but at the same time, it shows me this is something I can be making changes to,” she said. “I’m doing something that needs to be changed. It’s a step I need to take, regardless of what others might think. If I’m scared, what stops others from being scared too? Some people need to be the ones to set an example, otherwise everyone will be fearful of stepping into something new.”
Next year will be full of new experiences for Suhail, and she’s excited to take on the adventure.
And while she’s leaving behind her tight knit communities to forge her own independent path, she can also take comfort in knowing she’ll always have a friendly face nearby. In the Cornell Class of 2028, she’ll be joined by arguably her best friend, her twin sister Zaara.
Though they’ll be living separately, pursuing different careers and making their own new communities, she said it’s nice to know a lunch of familiarity will always be a text and 10-minute walk away.
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