BAYT Interviews Ep. 3: Renee Yaseen
Renee Yaseen, an Arab America Foundation 30 Under 30 Awardee!
Welcome to Bring Arab Youth Together’s third interview! Today we are interviewing Renee Yaseen, a Syrian-American writer, artist, and entrepreneur from Indiana. Previously, she was the Post Grad columnist at The Washington Post. Her poems and essays appear in The Adroit Journal, Ballast, The Elevation Review, The Wall Street Journal, and others. While in college, she founded an award-winning tech startup which sought to help children maintain physical activity and conversational skills during the pandemic. She serves on the board of PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs, which connects students with real-life journalism education and experience. She is part of the Advisory Council of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, where she provides feedback on the University’s strategic and educational initiatives. In 2024, she was named to Arab America’s 30 Under 30 class. She earned her B.A. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame in 2022 and is interested in pursuing a law degree.
Q: What is an important value or belief you have that stems from your ethnicity?
A: The importance of studying language deeply—your own, first, and then hopefully those of others, too.
The Arabic language is something sacred to me! And because it’s my second language, I’m always in a sort of friendly competition with myself to get better at it. Arabic is a language where nuance and meaning come both from cerebral conventions (the words follow complex systems of weights, relationships, and transformations) and from the natural sounds of the letters themselves. I really believe the richness of Arabic as a language is what gives our cultures’ poetry, spirituality, and music such vibrancy and depth.
Q: What keeps you motivated during difficult times?
A: My family! Remembering the grit and strength of my parents and grandparents reminds me I’m up to the task.
Q: What character attribute has helped in your success?
A: I am pretty bold and action-oriented. Whenever I feel myself getting a little shy or unsure of myself, I remind myself that “closed mouths don’t get fed.” You have to ask for what you want, try your luck, ask questions, and be willing to be wrong, even if everyone is watching…those moments of awkwardness are usually over and forgotten pretty quickly.
Q: Fattoush or tabouli?
A: Fattoush, 100%. Ask my family—if we’re at a restaurant together, I will literally order fattoush for breakfast :)
Thank you for your time, Renee!
