The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 1 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on September 18, 2020.
Emma G. Overton ’21
Editor-in-Chief and News Section Editor
In the summer of 2020, Lake Forest College junior Zahra Nadeem ’22 of Vernon Hills, Illinois, with the help of LFC alumna Zaria Sydnor ’20, founded Full Circle. Full Circle is described as an “advocacy, support, and awareness group” that Nadeem says “provides a safe space for LFC students and Alumni to bring awareness to issues and topics that they care about.” According to Nadeem, the idea for Full Circle came from a discussion with her friend Sydnor about “the protests that were going on in our country regarding the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Movement.” Nadeem noted that “there was a lot of awareness being spread about multiple social justice issues ranging from police brutality to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis going on in Yemen. These topics are very heavy to take in mentally and physically.” In order to provide a forum for discussing these issues, Zadeem shared that she and Sydnor “knew that we wanted to create a space for the LFC community to support each other during these challenging times. The current pandemic…makes it hard for us to physically be there for each other, so we thought that we should make a virtual space for our community. We then called…our friends Rodney Bethea ’20, Hanya Laman ’22, and Amya Quillin ’22 to create Full Circle.”
The first Full Circle session was held on July 6, 2020 via Zoom. Nadeem shared that topics discussed in Full Circle “can range from issues and events taking place on campus, issues going on in our country or even global events…” Nadeem noted that “Zaria, Hanya, Rodney, Amya and I just serve as the backbone for Full Circle, the true leaders are our community members that speak at our weekly meetings.” Recent Full Circle topics have included Colorism, Intersectionality within the Indian Caste System, the Black Lives Matter Movement, Activism Fatigue, Self Care, Students’ Personal Experiences with Activism on Campus, Stereotypes of Liberal Arts Colleges, Gaslighting, LFC Town Halls, and Ableism. According to Nadeem, Full Circle has “been very successful and many of our members have been enjoying our sessions. Regular attendance can range anywhere from 25 to 60 people.”
Discussing the importance of Full Circle, Nadeem stated that Full Circle is “an environment that allows for important conversations to take place with individuals you may have never spoke[n]to and build connections within our community. A lot of the conversations we have are conversations that don’t often take place on our campus, and we want to change that. Full Circle not only brings awareness to issues but allows for fruitful conversation [and]discussion to take place on the topics addressed as well.” Nadeem further highlighted the unique nature of Full Circle, explaining that “…the most important factor that Full Circle has to offer is that it is an independent student [and]alumni-led organization that is not affiliated with the [C]ollege in any way. This allows for Full Circle members to truly share their thoughts and feelings in an unfiltered and respectful manner without being worried about what higher-ups at the [College] might have to say.”
Nadeem shared that Full Circle sessions are held on Zoom every Sunday from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central time. She stated, “We would love for more LFC students to attend Full Circle and become a part of our growing community! If you are interested in joining Full Circle or have any questions, you can email me at nadeemz@mx.lakeforest.edu or message me on instagram @zahraxnadeem.”
