STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Shaliz Bazldjoo '24 Writes Her Path to Success By Sarah Hibshman Miller '98
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haliz Bazldjoo ‘24 has seen her fair share of success throughout her years as a Laurel student. This year she and six of her classmates were named National Merit Semifinalists, awarded to students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. As a member of the Model United Nations (UN) team in Ninth through Eleventh Grade, Shaliz participated in a host of conferences. When asked what spurred her interest in Model UN, she said, “I’ve always been fascinated by world events and politics—perhaps because most of my family lives outside of the U.S.—so it was something I wanted to try from the very beginning.”
In addition to her extracurricular and academic successes, Shaliz learned early that she had both a gift and a passion for writing. In Eighth Grade she took home first place at a regional Power of the Pen writing competition and also received a state-level Humor Award for a piece she wrote during that tournament. That piece was published in “The Book of Winners” alongside other award-winning writing from that event.
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As a Junior, Shaliz and five of her classmates competed in the Division II JustWrite Ohio writing competition where they took an impressive second place overall at the State Tournament in May 2023. JustWrite Ohio awards its highest honors to just two students in the state and Shaliz received the 2023 Excellence in Poetry Award. It is worth noting that classmate Karma Abboud ‘24 received the other highest honor—the 2023 Nikki Delamotte Award for Outstanding Narrative Writing. Throughout Upper School, Shaliz also has entered her writing in the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards where she has received a total of three Gold Keys, three Silver Keys, and two Best-of-Category Awards. But among her many accomplishments, being named a 2023 YoungArts Finalist was a highlight for Shaliz. YoungArts is a national program for young artists of different disciplines, be it writing, dance, music, visual arts and more. Every year hundreds of winners are selected among these categories from thousands of applicants. This includes a group of only 100 finalists who are chosen to attend an arts immersion week in Miami at the YoungArts headquarters. Shaliz submitted her Capstone Project to the competition on a whim—a novel focused on the history of LGBTQ+. She knew of the selectivity of YoungArts and did not expect to be selected. Laurel’s Capstone Scholars Project provides enterprising and motivated students the opportunity to engage in personally meaningful work that tackles real-world challenges and creates
