Name: Alysha SiddiquiMajor: History and AnthropologyYear: 2014Hometown: Dubai, UAE (“I guess, I was born there but I lived in a lot of other places.”)
Girl-crush Status: First look at the picture above; now look back down. Okay, one more time– above, then down. Get the point? Alysha can rock round sunglasses and thrift store gear like no other (there’s this one velvet dress not even Stevie Nicks could pull off as well as Alysha, so yes, there’s some serious skill involved). Flawless eclectic fashion aside, Ms. Siddiqui also has that type of devil-may-care attitude which inspires others not to take themselves so seriously because, hey, there’s more to life than unnecessary worry. This also translates well at in her bartending skills at Mama’s Bar, an esteemed establishment located on Avenue B right on the corner of third that you should all totally go to. Especially since, you know, it’s practically right on campus (practically). Read on.
HC NYU: Who are your personal girl crushes and why?AS: Queen Elizabeth is pretty amazing; I mean she’s the paragon of strength and leadership in a particularly complex era of European history, politically speaking. Sarah Kay is a fantastic poet, who I love because she knows pain is overrated. My best sources of inspiration are actually my close friends, but the top spot has to go to either Sofia Coppola or this one girl from my neighborhood who has a vespa and an albino Doberman.
HC NYU: Are there any female representations, whether they be in book, movie, or TV, that you do not agree with? Why so?AS: What I disagree with most is the notion that women have to be portrayed “correctly” and according to a set of guidelines, which sounds like what we’ve been trying to overcome in the first place. I understand why it’s important that women are portrayed differently than they have been in the past. But to call these portrayals bad representations of “women” instead of “people” also does its part to suggest that there is a certain way a woman has to be. So if we’re talking about bad representations of female people, I’m going to have to go with Kristen Stewart as Bella because that is hands-down the worst modern portrayal of a human person that I have ever seen.
HC NYU: What do you look forward to as a young woman entering today’s work force?AS: I’m mostly looking forward to making my own money and having a reason to leave my apartment after I graduate. My job as a bartender is the best job I could have right now. It’s the only job where you can drag sexual harassment out by the scruff of its neck and kick it out the door right in the butt. Can I change my answer? Mostly I look forward to the bar brawls. Beyond bartending, I’m just excited to make my own way: the plan is to become an anthropological documentarian by going to Thailand, getting my open diver’s license, then going to coastal Europe where I want to make my first documentary on underwater archaeological excavations.
HC NYU: Do you have any advice for incoming freshmen?AS: You make your own opportunities here because no one else can pick you out of our huge student population. Research your department and faculty, spend some time in your department building with the event bulletin boards, and don’t be afraid to approach professors you don’t know but are curious about. For history majors, it is my duty to tell you that if you see a class about pirates, or something else that’s really cool, you can expect two things: a) it will be full of Tisch kids who can’t contribute to a historical discussion and b) there’s something wrong with the professor. I can’t tell you what it is, but you’ll find out soon enough.