Zawareen Zakaria

In my house, there used to be buckets of Lego pieces—a tumultuous medley of bricks collected from multiple sets over the years. While my brother would build countless little cars and trucks and planes with random pieces, I would build a house. It was always the same: one bedroom, a kitchen, a big ol’ living room, and four little Lego block characters—a mom, a dad, a daughter who was always the eldest, and a son who was always the youngest. Just like my own family, just like my own house.

When I came to Barnard, I already knew that I wanted to graduate early. On paper, it seemed feasible. However, almost everyone I spoke to warned that it would be incredibly difficult. Still, I did not consider an increased workload grounds for abandoning my desire. My parents have taken on more than their fair share of work to care for me. Easing their financial burden by graduating early was the least that I could do. Graduating early would make it financially possible for my brother to apply to his dream schools and for our parents to afford our educational and vocational aspirations past college.

Prem Thakker is a junior in Columbia College studying history, hailing from Grand Forks, North Dakota. If you would like to hang out, he’d love to take a walk in Morningside Park, share a meal at a dining hall, or toss a Frisbee with you. You can also find him on Twitter @prem_thakker. His column, Colon, Closed Parentheses, runs alternate Mondays.

On campus, Muslims have no real place of worship to call their own.