“Being a good leader means empowering other people to do their best,” stated Sara Shiraz, a 17-year-old student at the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Sara has long been dedicated to serving others. Her former school’s motto, Ut Serviamus (that we may serve), has become a guiding phrase in her life.

Her most impactful service experience happened a few years ago when she attended a summer camp in India where participants from over 10 countries were selected to help school-aged boys learn how to look after their environment and the space around them. Through this experience, Sara not only developed long-lasting connections but arrived at a new perspective on life. As Sara put it, “There are people who would trade your worst day for the world because, for them, that would be their best day.” This new perspective enforced the importance of reflection in Sara’s life and being grateful for the opportunities she receives. In the future, she hopes to return to the school where she spent her summer and support the creation of solutions for more complex problems in the community, such as infrastructure. 

During her time in India, she also visited a northern village in Gujarat, India, where she toured safe housing spaces created by the Aga Khan Development Network Agency for Habitat, a subset of the overall Aga Khan Development Network. The Aga Khan Development Network is a philanthropic foundation set up by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, dedicated to improving the quality of life for those in need. The broad service initiatives the Network has conducted have long been a source of profound inspiration for Sara, further entrenching her dedication to service. In the future, Sara hopes to join the Aga Khan Development Network and support their work to help communities and individuals become self-reliant. 

Princess Aga Khan, the daughter of His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, has served as another source of inspiration for Sara. Princess Aga Khan has worked on development projects across the world and has an integral role in her late father’s philanthropic foundation. She has long been a champion of aiding those in need and utilizes her position to increase awareness on issues of importance. For Sara, Princess Aga Khan embodies who she wishes to become, a passionate individual who has dedicated their life in the service of others. 

Specifically, Sara hopes to dedicate her life to aiding women who have faced domestic violence. When she was in India, she met a group of women who had locked themselves in a courtroom for 40 hours without food or water to protest the gender based discrimination they faced when attempting to find employment. Their story inspired her to create change within the gender equity space and specifically to work with underprivileged women. She thus hopes to develop an organization to support those facing domestic violence in her future professional career. 

Through her time in India, Sara learned the significance of having lived experiences. She notes that many adults often view youth as incapable of contributing to political spaces due to their lack of lived experiences. While she sees the reasoning behind this thinking, she also believes it is irresponsible for political leaders to make decisions about the future that youth will inherit when youth are not privy to the discussions themselves. To respect the youth, Sara notes, “we must give them a voice.”  And if youth are given a voice, they can bring in outside perspectives that act as a check and balance on those in power to ensure the right topics are being tackled. Sara believes it is especially important to bring outsider youth perspectives into political decision-making because when individuals are given positions of power, they often forget the true problems of the populace or community in favor of their interests. 

When asked to provide advice for her peers, Sara highlighted the growth mindset and the importance of “being open to new challenges and learning new things.” She has observed that many individuals often see themselves in a static way; however, she implores young people to constantly push themselves to be better, curious, and open-minded. Moreover, she views open-mindedness as one of the key traits for success in life as one should never judge a book by its cover. All individuals, no matter their history, are worth listening to as every individual’s story can provide insight into your own.

Read her 1st-place submission here.