Neuqua is a very wild community, from its mascot, Willie the Wildcat, to its individual students. Each talent isn’t always as visible as others, but they are equally as “wild” as the rest.
After meeting with some Neuqua students, The Echo learnt about some of the hidden talents that go under the radar yet are rather extraordinary.
From musicians to athletes, Neuqua students are full of surprises – but one student’s talent stands out for its creativity that is centered around being entirely online. Crystal Zhou, a Freshman at Neuqua, has a passion for digital art, spending hours of time designing intricate art pieces for school competitions, friends and family. Though she jokes that her talent is “not so wild,” her detailed work proves just how much passion she pours into her work.
“I didn’t ‘discover’ my talent at a direct time, but I’ve overall started drawing when I was 7,” Zhou said. “I started digital art around 6th grade. It was a developing process of learning, since art in general tends to be very difficult to master.”
Over the years Zhou has spent lots of time creating art pieces for school competitions, friends, and family, and occasionally taking commissions – though she states that she “tends to keep it cheap.” Despite the skill of digital art being completely electronic, she emphasizes that her art is 100% original, never relying on AI to generate pieces for her. While her art hasn’t won her any major competitions – yet – she takes pride in the small wins she’s had in school competitions, recalling when she participated in a pumpkin art contest.
“My talent is both for practice and for fun,” Zhou explains. “I predominantly do it for fun, but I also plan to improve and refi ne my digital art skills.”
Even with her small online following, Zhou hopes more Neuqua students will recognize her work. She likes to share her work with friends and create art for her teachers. Her art stands as a reminder that the most creative talents are the ones that are hidden – even behind a screen.
Whilst some students are talented in artistic ways, others express their talents through language and culture. Freshman Khadijah Riaz shared her talent of being able to read the Qur’an, in Arabic.
From around 5-6 years old, Riaz has been taking specialized daily lessons to improve her understanding of the Qur’an, and even went to a religious school to further improve her pronunciation of each word. She revealed to us that she “often felt discouraged at times,” but with resilience, she was able to “keep going.” As she continued to practice, she felt her efforts were starting to pay off .
“I started to memorize different Surahs [chapters in the Quran],” Riaz explained. “I started out small and then gradually Surahs became longer and I would spend more time practicing.”
For Riaz, reading the Qur’an isn’t just about memorizing – it keeps her connected to her faith. She uses her talent for good by helping others begin to read the Qur’an from her own experiences. She noted that there are even different styles of writing in the Qur’an, the most common being IndoPak.
Her appreciation for the Qur’an and her culture is clear when she shared with us that she has “a profound appreciation for [her] holy book and its special linguistic beauty.”
Even when life gets busy with school, Riaz still stays connected to her holy book by listening to audio recordings of the Qur’an, which she recites along with the speaker. Despite her talent, she enjoys keeping it to herself because she feels it is a skill that is “very special” and personal.
Riaz isn’t the only student whose talent ties in language. For another Neuqua student, that skill expands far beyond just one language – she can speak five! Freshman Komila Inoyatova, can speak 5 languages including Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Russian and Uzbek. Inoyatova had access to learn all of these languages at her previous school where she describes that once she starts to learn a language she can “learn it really quick,” she explained.
In the past, Inoyatova has put her talent to use when helping others in the school environment.
“In second grade, there was an exchange student who came from another country,” explained Inoyatova.
Using her language skills, she was able to communicate with him when he didn’t understand English. Over time, she helped him learn enough so that he could start talking with other people, without her help.
Inoyatova also shared that she’d love for more people to know about her talent, because if others share the same interest in that language, it could help them connect and build a friendship. She believes that language brings people together.
Due to her experience with language, she urges students to practice regularly, so they don’t forget what they have learned.
These students show that Neuqua’s wild talents come in many forms – on the screen, through language, and in personal connections. Whether it’s creative, reading, or communicating, their talents make our community even more diverse and inspiring.
