Sophomore Taara Sajdeh was chosen for the IHSA Student Advisory committee, which includes one student from each of Illinois’ 21 districts. The committee is focused on representing student athletics, both in ensuring safety for student athletes, and giving these athletes input in decisions about rules and regulations.
Taara, who runs track and field and cross country, will be the first representative from U-High, and will be a member for the next two years. Members of this committee will be working to provide leadership opportunities and standards for student athletes. Taara will bring her own ideas as part of this committee.
“I really want to bring a diverse perspective,” Taara said. “As a young, female, Indian, track athlete, many of those attributes are typically overlooked and overshadowed by other sports and other cultural identifiers.”
Additionally, Taara wants to draw from her past experiences as an athlete to create opportunities for other student athletes.
“I personally have struggled with a lot of mental health issues surrounding athletics,” Taara said. “I want to see how we can help students whose schools don’t have the mental health resources and the counseling with those resources.”
Taara is focused on applying her own perspective to this committee while still providing the unique viewpoint she has acquired during her time at Lab.
Taara said, “I think it’s gonna be interesting because, from what I’ve gathered, a lot of the students are from really large public schools, so I want to bring that ‘unconventional’ diverse perspective.”
