Hi, my name is Zhivan Khaleeli. I am a Pakistani-American student & a sophomore at SHC. I enjoy a variety of hobbies. I am also an avid sports player and fan. I have been playing soccer for 12 years, and I play striker and right winger. I am a starter on my club team outside of school, SF Glens. My team is in the National Premier League (NPL) but I also am a part-time player for our MLS Next team. I also am a player for SHC’s varsity team. While playing for both the NPL and MLS Next team’s is fun, I have had to grow in terms of time management in order to attend double the practices as well as staying in tune with my own body in order to stay healthy and prevent injuries. It is one of many challenges I embrace in order to grow as not only a player but a person.

A very important driving force in my life is my family, and I strive to maintain their legacy in addition to building my own. My parents were both very successful, despite the fact that both of them were born and raised in Pakistan, a 3rd world country. They didn’t let that stop them, attending selective universities in MIT & UC Berkeley, and now both are at stable jobs. They inspire me to work hard for everything and achieve my potential.

With regards to school, my favorite class this year is AP Psychology. In addition to subjects, I also am interested in the wide variety of extracurriculars here at SHC. In addition to the soccer, I am a part of the leadership team for the SLI (Student Launch Initiative) as well as a sports writing intern. The extracurriculars that I partipate in will help me delve into my passions and learn valuable skills in the process, skills such as public speaking, logical thinking, and planning.

Talking about my personality is the best way to understand who I am in school, with my friends, on the soccer pitch, and in most endeavors throughout my life. When in school, I strive to improve and learn every day. I also try to exemplify being a good person in any activity I do, whether it be giving teammates constructive criticism on the field or adhering to the Academic Code of Conduct in school. In fact, I work to benefit my community. On example of that is Scouts BSA, where I by regularly participating in food drives, donations, and other community-benefiting activities. Another example is my volunteering at an organization called Up on Top, where I am looking to help through my i2 project this year. My faith also is a factor towards my desire to actively serve and help my community. Although I attend a Catholic school, I am a Muslim. While it has been interesting to learn about the various differences and similarities of the two cultures, I practice the five pillars of Islam devoutly. One of those is zakat, or alms. Therefore, my family donates a percentage of their income, and I donate a percentage of what I earn. As to where I get those earnings, I followed my passion for soccer (and my desire to have a little more pocket money) by looking into refereeing. I started refereeing the soccer games of younger kids and have now made over $2,000!

However, something all my friends and family will tell you is that I am very competitive. My personal way of judging an activity I did is if I didn’t either win or learn something, whether it be a concept in psychology or a trick to retain energy on the pitch, the activity served little to no purpose. That statement alone gives accurate insight into who I am as a person, someone who will strive to win in everything he does, but prioritizes learning and growing in activities and as a person above all else.

In summary, Zhivan Khaleeli is someone who works hard to be the best at what he does, strives to achieve a better community for those around him, and a person you can find on the soccer pitch, serving his community, or in the classroom.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know a little bit about me!