Reveling In His Past

Debate was never sophomore Ali Dastjerdi’s first choice. When he was an incoming freshman, he had signed up for a programming class. His counselor told him that wouldn’t work with his schedule, so he signed up for his first alternative: Beginning Debate.

At first, Ali hated it. Public speaking was hard, and he thought he would fail. He was even afraid of debate until he finished his first tournament, where he

took first place. That first win gave him confidence, and from then on he loved it. He loves the competition and developing new ideas. Debate connects him with what he’s passionate about: politics, argumentation and foreign policy. And through debating about foreign policy, debate also connects with him his heritage.

To win a debate, debaters argue about what matters. In a debate, what matters is the impact. Impacts usually involve different scenarios and problems, and it’s what debaters argue about. An impact can be anything.

“Iran first strike on Isreal.”

“Israel first strike Iran retaliation.”

“Proliferation causes Iran nuke war.”

Ali’s family is from Iran. His parents, Mohammad Dastjerdi and Arezou Heshmati were both born in Tehran, Iran’s capital. When Mohammad and Arezou were children in Iran, the country was in the midst of a grand Westernization. In the early 19th century, Iran was began adapting more aspects of European and American cultures.

“It was very much like a normal Western childhood,” Arezou said. “After the revolution, the country was a mess, but I eventually, along with all other people, adapted.”

During its Westernization, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi led Iran. After he was overthrown in the revolution of 1979, Islamist leader Ayatollah Khomeini became the Supreme Leader. In 1996, Mohammad and Arezou moved to Michigan to get their degrees in cornea and sleep specialties. The family moved back to Iran with Ali in 2003, having never intended on staying in the US. Ali was six.

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“Of course, the birds never listened to the fortune tellers. And that was part of the fun.”

Ali’s family owns a bookshelf; it’s where they keep a collection of ethnic art and souvenirs from around the world — Ali’s favorite part of the shelf is a collection of light blue plates. Porcelain and hand-painted from Iran. The plates bring him back to the time he spent in Iran as a child. To the Iranian bazaars, dark and crowded and filled with art. They were damp and unpleasant, but Ali didn’t mind. He loved it.

He remembers going to the Shrine of Hafez in Shiraz, a historical city in Iran. He remembers eating polludeh, a Shiraz dessert with tapioca noodles and rose water syrup. He remembers the orange trees and the gardens around the poet Hafez’s tomb, and the fortune tellers there with birds that were trained to pick out a poem of Hafez’s that would be a fortune. Of course, the birds never listened to the fortune tellers. And that was part of the fun.”

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Life in Iran was basically the same for Ali as it is in America: he would wake up in the morning and Arezou would drive him to school. Half of his day was spent learning in Farsi, and the other half in English. Then he would go home, play and watch TV before doing his homework. He lived like any typical American child would, only in another country.

When Ali’s family moved back to America, he was in the third grade. While the other students in his class studied English grammar, it was problematic for Ali. Sentence structures were foreign. After two years of Western schooling in Iran, even remembering the words for “fire alarm” were difficult. School was a struggle. The only thing Ali excelled at was math; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Math is universal, and Ali is a logical thinker.

Ali’s family had settled in Boston at first so that Mohammad could do research for Harvard University. After four years, the family moved to Kansas so that his dad could work for the University of Kansas Medical Center and his mom for Children’s Mercy. Ali enrolled at Mission Valley Middle School and then at East. Life went on.

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For Ali, discrimination has never really been an issue. People never directly insulted him, and if they did, they were joking. But kids could be cruel. Words can hurt. And for Ali, there were plenty of times he was called a terrorist. He got used to it.

In Boston, he was treated the same as he is in Kansas. He’s always considered himself a normal kid; but he still has to deal with ignorance.

“Iran is misunderstood,” Ali said. “People look toward Iran and its current leadership and assume certain things. It’s always been a more affluent place. A lot of people used to think I lived in a warzone. [That’s] not true.”

With both of his parents being doctors, Ali’s family was considered middle class back in Iran. In America, his family is still considered middle class, or upper middle class. Mohammad and Arezou don’t have any other children, but Ali has his cousin Sina. Both Ali and Sina’s families moved here from Iran to study, originally intending to go back to Iran. But both families decided to stay in America.

Ali and Sina have always been close. They grew up in Boston together, they go on vacation together. Ali and Sina joke around and make fun of people in Farsi. They hang out and watch Iranian comedians. When they’re together is when Ali really feels connected to his heritage. And even though hundreds of miles separate them, they’re still great friends.

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Debating is Ali’s strong suit. He’s good at what he does, and good enough to be invited to national tournaments. He’s placed 1st at various in-state tournaments and competed alongside the team that won 1st place in the 4-speaker division in the state championship. Argumentation comes naturally to him. He’s never lost a debate when someone tries to win on the Iran impact. His heritage isn’t something he takes lightly; it’s important to him. Even so, Ali’s heritage is not a focal point in his life.

“Iran is really misunderstood. A lot of people used to think I lived in a warzone. [That’s] not true.”

He plays the saxophone. He was on the JV swim team. He debates. The fact that he’s Iranian-American doesn’t dominate his life, but it helped to make him the person he is today.

Arezou cooks Iranian food on a regular basis and Ali watches “The Daily Show” with Mohammad. Ali is enrolled in French 4, but also speaks Farsi and English fluently. He has a green and brown sofa in his living room, with a traditional piece of khatamkari art on the bookshelf across from it. Iranian and American culture are intertwined for Ali.

“I feel like I’m not defined by either,” Ali said. “But I am a product of a far more integrated 21st century world.”