By Jeff Sutton
While attending HBU has become a family affair, for freshman Noor Abukishk, it wasn鈥檛 always a foregone conclusion.
Noor, a member of the HBU women鈥檚 soccer team, was born in the U.S., but spent the majority of her youth abroad. Growing up, she knew that she wanted to return to the states for college, and it was when she started thinking about where to go that she started to learn more about her father鈥檚 collegiate experiences.
Waleed Abukishk 鈥�88, MS 鈥�92, Noor鈥檚 father, played soccer at HBU from 1984- 1987. During that time, he established himself as one of the best soccer players to ever set foot on campus. Waleed鈥檚 name dots the HBU record books, and he is still second in school history in career goals (36), assists (21) and points (93).
Noor recalls being dismissive of her father鈥檚 achievements, chalking it up to fatherly boasting. 鈥淵ou know when your dad tells you stuff, but you just kind of wave it off?鈥� she asked. But, Noor continued on, saying 鈥淚 started leaning toward HBU, thinking it would be really neat if I went to the same school as my father. Then we were here on campus for a visit and he took me to the where I saw his name and I thought, 鈥榃ow, this is real.鈥� I was shocked and also so proud of him.鈥�
Houston is more than 7,000 miles from Cairo, Egypt, where Noor went to high school and called home, but group chats allow Noor to stay in constant contact with her family. She refers to her dad as her 鈥渕otivator abroad,鈥� and speaks specifically of their close relationship. 鈥淢y dad told me about his time here and he said, 鈥楴oor, it was the best time in my life,鈥� and I look up to my dad, so whenever he says something I take it to heart.鈥� She also adds, with a bright smile, 鈥淚鈥檓 daddy鈥檚 soccer girl.鈥�
In addition to her father, two of Noor鈥檚 aunts and two of her cousins attended HBU. She cites the smaller class sizes and campus community as something that drew her to HBU, comparing it to nearby Texas A&M where her brother, Mohammad, is a senior. Noor admits the move back to the U.S. was 鈥渘erve-racking,鈥� as she thought about the cultural differences she would experience after living abroad for 14 years.
Those cultural differences exist, certainly, but Noor has a built-in support system in her soccer teammates and coaches. 鈥淭he team has really, really helped. They鈥檙e super friendly and it鈥檚 good to know that they understand there are differences. I was really happy when I heard, 鈥楴ot only are you adapting to us, but we鈥檙e adapting to you.鈥� It goes both ways and people on campus are super friendly. It鈥檚 easy to approach people for help.鈥�
As she works toward a degree in marketing and strives for Southland Conference championships on the soccer field, Noor will always have that brick that reads 鈥淲ALLY ABUKISHK 鈥�89, MS 鈥�92,鈥� as a reminder of her dad and motivation as she carries on his legacy at HBU.
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