The Character of God: How to Live In the Dreams You Prayed For w/ Zahra Hassan

Canadian-born teacher and Influencer, Zahra Hassan, has been gracing our social media feeds with her dope fashions! Her style is a mix between 90s Hip Hop and that Down-To-Earth Girl-Next-Door you always wanted to be around.  But this amazing teacher didn’t always have it easy.

In the 11th grade, Zahra struggled with science and math. “My math teacher didn't like me, so it was just hard for me to keep up. She would single me out and tell me to leave the classroom, even when I wasn’t even talking.” It was from there, Zahra knew she had to pivot from her childhood dream of becoming a pediatrician because all of the courses she needed to take for this career path, were a struggle. She decided to take a co-op class and told the teacher she liked working with children.  After their talk, he suggested she try teaching and connected her with a volunteering program.  Having worked with children before, in middle school, she  was open to the opportunity. To her pleasant surprise, Zahra was placed in her third youngest brother's 1st-grade class! “I loved everything about the experience” - getting to know them, helping them with reading and writing and seeing their milestones.  “After that co-op class, it was solidified that I wanted to be an educator.” 

Zahra is the oldest of seven children. Her parents fled to Canada from the Civil War in Somalia.  “They didn't know the language,” she explained, and yet, made a way for their family to thrive in a new world. Her father instilled in her, the value of education and how it would take her far in life. Thankfully, Zahra held onto those words when times were hard. 

A seed was planted from that co-op class and Zahra was determined to teach.  Like many  other high schoolers with a dream, she solicited some direction from her guidance counselor.  But to her chagrin, this “guidance counselor” told Zahra, this dream of becoming an educator was “out of reach.” Unfortunately, this type of racial profiling is prevalent in academia and it happens to the best of us. But, we prevail.

Thankfully, Zahra didn't let this racist marginalization  steer her away from what her father said.  Education was going to get her far in life! She forged the uphill battle of navigating how to become a teacher even though her guidance counselor gave her “no guidance.” Zahra later found out, after the fact, there was a concurrent program she could have applied for, had she known about it. This would have comprised of her getting a Bachelors degree in Teaching, while simultaneously being enrolled as an undergraduate student. But her high school counselor withheld this information.  That didn't stop Zahra. 

Instead of completing four years in the concurrent program, she spent six years in school getting her Bachelors degree in English with a double major in Sociology from York University in Toronto, Canada, and then going to Teacher’s College for two years. This route exposed her to learning about The Conflict Theory and Critical Race Theory, which she found very intriguing. “I truly believe everything happens for a reason,” says Zahra optimistically. 

However, in her first year of Teacher’s College, in November 2019, Zahra started to feel unwell. What began as episodes of migraines in class, distorted vision and feeling lightheaded, turned into her being rushed to the emergency room countless times. After numerous visits with specialists, over a year later in January 2021, Zahra was finally given an answer from a Rheumatologist. She had fibromyalgia. 

“My brain [was] sending signals to all of my body symptoms and my body [was] attacking itself from the inside. In 2020 a lot of my symptoms mimicked a heart attack, or movement issues. I couldn’t walk. Then at one point, I was having migraines that ended up giving me vertigo and the world was just spinning. I never had vertigo. Then my throat started to close where I couldn’t even swallow. My [then, unknown condition of] fibromyalgia was shutting down all of my systems, one-by-one, to the point where I was getting sick. I was in extreme, widespread pain, all day every day.” No medications worked.

She even moved back in with her mom for three months because of a relapse in July 2020. In that moment, she prayed and said, “God, if you heal me and restore my health, I promise I won’t take teaching or being in the classroom for granted.”

Thankfully, Zahra has since been prescribed medication that finally works for her. “I have my body back to the healthiest I’ve been in a minute. I don’t take it for granted. Whatever I can do, I want to accomplish. I was bedridden for months, up to a year. I felt like life was just passing me by. So now, I just want to do everything.”

This health scare prompted Zahra to be more grateful and self-aware.  “I don’t take my health or everything for granted anymore.”

Prior to being sick, “I felt like everything had to get done on a [timeline]… where I had a plan. I feel like I got humbled where God said, ‘I know you feel like you have a plan but I have a plan too.’ It allowed me  to really reflect on the process and not just wait until the finish line. Now, even in the process of teaching, even in the process of my life, I don’t take every day for granted. Every single day, I say ‘I’m so grateful to be here. I’m so thankful to be able to do the things that I can.”

Zahra officially began teaching in February 2021, one month after her diagnosis. “Being sick showed me that in any time of your life, you’re always living in a prayer you’ve asked before, by God. When looking from that direction, I’m always going to be living in a prayer I asked by God.  So why am I not taking the time to really appreciate it?”

That’s a lesson for us all. 

I truly believe God ordains people to do different things, which is evident in Zahra’s experience with fibromyalgia and how she’s rising above it. She is a light and draws so many people to her. 

Her students even say,  “Ms. Hassan understands me” because she never forgot to be the teacher she once needed as a child. At the beginning of every school year, Zahra has her students write her a letter, just to get to know them. If they have extra curricular activities, she follows up to see how things went at a game or a tournament. She also ensures she pronounces their names correctly and buys them gifts for their birthdays. There’s a high level of intentionality Zahra takes to create this bond we’re all able to witness on her Instagram feeds and beyond.

Zahra believes we can create change. The educator even categorizes her teaching style as a mix between the hit-sticom characters, Janine and Barbara from Abbott Elementary. Like Janine, Zahra likes to solve problems and has Barbara’s calm demeanor.  I would also add Barbara’s wisdom to this character personified. For Ramadan, Zahra was able to advocate for Muslim students to have hotspots for prayer. As a Muslim woman, she knows firsthand the challenges faced of not being able to pray in public schools when she was growing up. She's now paying it forward by exemplifying how to be authentic in the classroom. 

The educator’s personal style is also a connecting piece, which is a heavily inspired by 90s movies and music. Her students see a teacher dressed in Street Style fashions and they automatically feel a sense of trust. She reflects the culture, and is truly being herself. Zahra reminisces on the days her older cousins would visit from Australia and they would watch BET. One of her cousins even gifted her with a Snoop Dogg printed jacket when they were younger. This was the beginning of her style journey, which he lovingly reminds her of.

Coming to school in Street Style outfits helps to set the example for her students to show up authentically. “I'm not policing their identities.” Zahra's also debunking the Euro-centric definitions of “professional” wear. Her blackness will not take a back seat for a monolithic version of how to be “successful” in her career.

Zahra’s style landed her deals with Staples, Carol's Daughter and a slew of interviews on various media platforms. She was even featured on a black news anchor's channel as the TikTok Teacher going viral for her outfits, which paved the way for multiple collaborations. This exposure attracted the likes of The Global News Channel in Toronto, who interviewed Zahra at her school and saw how she taught. Once that aired, she did more press and was eventually signed with a management company that had been following her journey. Having already negotiated two deals on her own, she realized working with a manager would lessen what she had on her plate. From there, deals came swarming in with Walmart, a coffee company, Staples, and other companies. 

Zahra credits this success to her being “kind of unique”, which is a humble understatement. She is SO fly! I would also say her father's words of “education taking her far in life,” have manifested. God has honored her prayers to never take life for granted if He healed her. I further believe her favor is a byproduct of the honor she has for her parents, family and her whole community! God promotes those who promote Him. 

This extra stream of income from influencing has created space for Zahra to “splurge on her students,” as she put it. She's invested funds into props, sets and costumes for plays” and she loves to donate. “The more I do it, I'm just glad that I can keep doing that. It allowed me to give back to people I love and to help out communities I am a part of.”

As a Muslim woman, Zahra's faith is integrated into her character. God cares about how we treat people in public and behind closed doors. He cares about your character and wants us to treat others with kindness.  “So my faith is part of everything I am.”  Zahra also referenced a line from the Qur’an, that says “Verily, with every hardship will come ease.”  Even in our trials, Zahra wants us to know “that’s just temporary. It will pass. And when it passes, you’ll get through it.  That’s literally what I live by. “

For more, follow Zahra Hassan on IG and TikTok at @misswondrousoul.