Omar Rising

Omar, Naveed, and Kareem despondently stay up past lights out, for the rules don’t seem to matter much to them anymore. Naveed thinks it is pointless to study for finals. Aiden says there is no rule about maintaining a GPA on Ghalib’s acceptance form; but then, he is a paid student. Aiden also refuses to give up on his friends. Omar is about to say that resistance is futile, but then he sees his collage title and wonders if he should be more stubborn. He knows that Shehzil Malik’s art focuses on standing up against injustice, and it is definitely true that getting kicked out because of discriminatory rules is unjust. Aiden volunteers to have his father speak to Headmaster Moiz, but Omar does not want to depend on Aiden’s father for his own future. Omar offers to write a letter to Moiz explaining why the rules are unfair, and Aiden suggests expanding it to a petition for everyone to sign. Feeling that it cannot hurt to try, Omar spends the night perfecting his letter detailing Ghalib’s unfair treatment of scholarship students and asking Moiz to change his decision.