[cis woman and she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [ZAHRA HAMED]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [AIYSHA HART]. You must be the [THIRTY FIVE] year old [ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF RELIGION]. Word is you’re [RESOURCEFUL] but can also be a bit [RESTLESS] and your favorite song is [MY GIRLFRIEND IS A WITCH BY OCTOBER COUNTRY]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
full name: zahra hamed
date of birth: 11 july 1989
gender & pronouns: cis woman, she/her
sexuality: bisexual & biromantic
family: mother, father
pets: a black cat called circe
occupation: assistant professor of religion @ aurora bay college
place of birth: st. cloud, minnesota
time in aurora bay: around a year
height: 5′10′’
hair colour & style: dark brown, wavy, a bit past her shoulders
eye colour: dark brown
tw: infertility, mentions of religion, smoking
despite her status as somewhat of a miracle child - her parents had already come to accept they wouldn’t be able to have children of their own due to a host of fertility issues - zahra grew up knowing a lot was expected of her. both of her parents had grown up with very little and had been able to use education as their way out of difficult home situations. she doesn’t resent her parents in the slightest, but sometimes wonders what her life would now look like if she been given just a bit more space and freedom to discover and make mistakes. still, she’s grateful for the drive her parents instilled in her as it has helped her to keep going even during times of distress. that being said, she has unfortunately picked up a host of rather unhealthy coping mechanisms for said stressful situations.
while the household didn’t necessarily seem all that outwardly pious to outsiders, religion was always a big part of the family dynamic and something that was discussed often and at great length, partly due to the interfaith nature of the family. zahra was a curious child and loved getting involved in these conversations, even when the concepts seemed far too complicated for her. she loved lingering in doorways when her parents had friends over, keen on sharing her opinions and the facts she had so meticulously taught herself.
she was a bright student. however, despite doing well academically, zahra often struggled with the social aspect of high school. she was kind of an awkwardly intense, gangly teen who spoke too little or far too much and couldn’t really figure out what her crowd was for quite a while. she eventually befriended a group of girls, some of whom she’s still in contact with to this day.
zahra moved to minneapolis at the age of 18 to attend university of minnesota. she went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in religious studies before completing her master’s in philosophy.
unwilling to give up studying just yet, she decided to pursue a doctorate degree, still unsure what she actually wanted to do in the future. she was accepted to princeton and later completed her phd in philosophy and religion.
while her life hasn’t always been easy or uncomplicated, it has been rather streamline. she has struggled and put in an enormous amount of hard work to get where she is now, but things have generally gone well for her. however, she has recently gone through something of a personal crisis and is really struggling to find her feet again. to put it simply, zahra has become wildly disillusioned with the academia and is suddenly really not sure she’s entirely happy with her choices in life.
she accepted a job at aurora bay college before coming to terms with the emotional and professional conflict she was having. she enjoys her job but is certainly very conflicted and is questioning whether or not she made the right decision.
zahra is bilingual and grew up speaking arabic with her father. she’s also fluent in french, can read german fairly well and studied hebrew, ancient greek and latin during her studies. her streak on duolingo is over two years long, but she doesn’t take it all that seriously. she just really likes mobile games and this one just happens to teach her languages, making it just a little more productive than candy crush.
an avid collector of all sorts of trinkets, zahra does not vibe with the minimalist aesthetic. her bedroom is full of knickknacks and keepsakes. she also collects books and dreams of being the sort of person who actually reads the books she buys. to be fair, she does read a lot, but it’s mostly stuff related to her research or the lectures she’s planning. all the new, exciting fiction books have gone unread for years. this fact has not slowed down her buying habits, though.
can be seen chain-smoking and cursing to herself at all hours of the day. when does she sleep? does she sleep? who knows.
some super vague connection ideas!
the stress has led to a lot of sleepless nights, resulting in her becoming a real night owl. she can be spotted frequenting places that are open late, and can be found chain-smoking and scrolling endlessly on social media. she would’ve undoubtedly run into some folks with similar schedules and habits.
any people with fun, interesting hobbies. after forming some sort of a connection, she would undoubtedly pester these individuals to teach her stuff. your girl needs to be distracted from her own thoughts.
zahra enjoys noisy music. so, a person willing to accompany her to gigs around the area. she’s happiest when it’s so loud she can’t hear anything at all.
friends/acquaintances/flings from minneapolis and/or princeton. would especially love to have some of her besties from high school.
people she has dated/hooked up with during her time in aurora bay.
she would have definitely been the sort of teen who had a pen pal. so, one of those would be super duper fun!
a neighbour who is trusted to watch her cat when she's busy or out of town!
