Sara Gohar of Ashburn recently participated in the STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Events at Family, Career and Community Leaders of America's (FCCLA) 2006 National Leadership Meeting.
Gohar, who is a graduate of Broad Run High School and is the daughter of Shaukat and Zubieda Gohar, received a gold medal in career investigation, one of 16 national STAR Events available to FCCLA students. Her medal was presented at a recognition session honoring all participants at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, July 13.
Last year, Gohar participated in the fashion design event where she constructed a prom dress and won gold and a trophy at the state level.
This year as a participant in career investigation for fashion design Ñ an individual event that recognizes participants for their ability to research and explore a career, set goals, create a plan for achieving goals and describe the relationship of Family and Consumer Sciences course work to the selected career Ñ Gohar had to prepare a portfolio consisting of self-assessments, experience and samples. In addition, Gohar also had to prepare a 10-minute speech in which she described her career investigation.
Name: Sara Gohar.
Town/Neighborhood: Ashburn.
Years in the Community: Four.
Occupation/Position: College freshman.
Achievements: Last year, in 2005, I had participated in a competition in fashion design for basic construction in FCCLA (Family, Community, Career, Leaders of America). Here I constructed a prom dress and won first in the state for my talent. This year I participated in career investigation for fashion design for FCCLA and created a portfolio and speech. After winning first at the state level again this year for this competition I participated in nationals at Nashville, Tenn., and guess what? I won gold.
Family: Mom, Dad, Amer, Shan, Sahr, Saba, Saud, Saeed, Alia (my siblings).
What do you like or dislike about your community?: I like the location very much Ñ well, where I live. Ashburn is still a nice, new fresh area. I live close by my school and the grocery store as well as by the mall. Everything is here and thus, I have a good opportunity to participate in school activities and be a part of my community. However, I dislike the way some people drive here and the fact that we don't have buses.
Favorite local restaurant/place: Nagoya's/Farmwell Plaza.
Sports Interests/Activities/Hobbies: I love to sew and design clothing. I also like discovering more about new technology and love to listen to my iPod. I also like to go to amusement parks, watch movies, read and much more.
Community Ties: I have volunteered in various places. To name a few, I have volunteered at Redskins Park for raising money for my Key Club chapter at school. I have also helped clean the highway and helped out at school beautification week. Many people may have seen me at Shoppers Food Warehouse (SFW), where I have worked for the past 2.5 years. Remember my customer friendly service?
Community Concerns: I have noticed that everybody is always busy. People are always at a rush to go somewhere. My advice is to take a break and enjoy the nature at Ashburn and spend time with your family and give some time to the community also. These moments are going to be more worthwhile.
Personal Goals: To open my own small dress-designing business and to study more about technology and how things work. To help the less fortunate in this world who lack clothes, food and family. Of course, I have some more goals: like everyone else, I too, want to become famous and rich one day and to live happily ever after.
What community "hidden treasure" should more people know about?: The hidden treasure in our community is our nature and we should cherish it and keep it clean while we can. (I've seen worse places.)
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