Fourteenth

“I went on a four-week scuba diving trip before I started my freshman year of college.  We travelled through the South Pacific, visiting the Solomon Islands and Fiji.  We were in Gizo on day 14.  Our dive master, Nico, was pretty excited on that day because he knew that he’d find pygmy seahorses at our dive site.  Pygmy seahorses are adorably small seahorses that rarely exceed 25 millimeters in length and are only found in Pacific waters.  I remember Nico talking in his french accent about them before our dive.  He spoke while pinching his thumb and pointer finger together, emphasizing their small size.  On our dive, Nico found some hanging out on a sea fan with their tails tangled around the small branches.  He held on to the reef wall while one-by-one we swam up to the wall to get a closer look.  I think I love scuba diving so much because there’s always a possibility that you’ll find something really cool if you just make sure to look hard enough!” – Maheen Nadeem

Bio: I am a Pakistani-American muslim from Pittsburgh, PA.  I’m a junior majoring in Neuroscience & Behavior Biology in the college and I will be applying to medical school this summer.  I currently serve as Emory MSA’s Chief of Staff.  I’m almost never not listening to music no matter what I’m doing.  I dance for the Atlanta female fusion dance team, Satrangi, when the MCAT isn’t taking over my life.  I’ve been diving for three years now and plan to continue diving into old age.  If you’re on Emory’s campus and I haven’t met you yet, please reach out!