Three students from Metro Vancouver — two from the same family — won a total of five of the 18 top prizes in the first-annual ISTAR competition for Canadian Ismaili students held to mark the 50th jubilee of the Ismailis’ leader, the Aga Khan.
Aaria Rahim, a Grade 12 graduate from Vancouver who is entering a program in ethics, society and law at the University of Toronto, was named student of the year in the Grade 11-12 age group — a prize that includes a trip to a developing country of her choice. She also won first place in both the leadership and community service category and the arts and culture category.
Another Vancouverite, Shakir Rahim, was runner-up in the same category.
Shakir and Aaria are not related, but Aaria’s brother, Aarman, also won first place in the Grade 10-11 leadership and community service category plus two second-place finishes — arts and culture and science and technology. The other first prize for a B.C. student was the Grade 10-11 arts and culture award won by Aliza Vellani.
Second-place prizes went to Ashraf Amlani in post-secondary science and technology, Rafiq Charania in post-secondary sports and Rafiq Baloo in Grade 11-12 sports.
Third-place prizes went to Rafiq Salemohamed in Grade 10-11 academic excellence, Aquil Virani both in Grade 11-12 academic excellence and in Grade 11-12 arts and culture, Aalia Chatur in post-secondary leadership and community service, and Safiya Dhanani in Grade 11-12 science and technology.
Ismailimail 