'Pay attention, listen, and learn:' A 15-year-old gets advice from two of her role models

Seven years ago, Aaliyah and Najmah Messiah entered Taniya Guster’s life. They started as housemates, but they quickly became like family.

RadioActive’s Taniya Guster has this conversation with two of the most important women in her life.

[RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story was entirely youth-produced, from the writing to the audio editing.]

I

have this clear memory from when I was 8 years old.

I had just moved to Seattle, and I was at this very beautiful park. Kids were running and playing, birds were chirping, families were barbecuing, and loud music was busting through their speakers.

I was on the swing and my grandmother, Aaliyah Messiah, was pushing me. In that moment, I felt the sun on my face, I felt God, and I felt loved.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about all the support my grandmother and my auntie, Najmah Messiah, have given me since I met them. So I asked them a series of questions to find out what it's like being a role model to me.

What's something that has inspired you to be a role model to me?

"Just knowing that you are a young lady, a young Black lady, who wants to make a difference in people's lives. That is something that motivates me," my auntie Najmah Messiah said. "And so I just want to be able to allow you to grow and help you in your growth."

What challenges have you faced when being a role model for me?

"I think there's a lot of outside influences that impact you," Najmah Messiah said. "It's not always the most positive thing, and that bothers me. It hurts me. So that, to me, has been a challenge. But I feel like we still move forward and get through those challenges."

What advice would you give to my younger self?

"I would give the advice of pay attention, listen, and learn," my grandmother Aaliyah Messiah said. "That’s what life is all about. It’s how we grow and how we stay positive and how we care about ourselves. And then that makes us be able to care about somebody else."

What advice do you want me to know now?

"Pay attention, listen, and learn," Aaliyah Messiah repeated, laughing. "And grow. And just be happy and enjoy life, you know?"

"Things happen in life," she said. "Life is always ups and downs, and then you have a plateau where everything is fine, and then you have a down, then you have up, and then you have a plateau. That's just what life is."

What’s the most important part to you about being a role model to me?

"Because you are a beautiful Black young lady, and needing you to grow and want to do the things that you want to do," Aaliyah Messiah said.

"You want to be a journalist? Wonderful, be the best journalist you can be. The very, very, very best that you can be. And anything that you do, do it to the best of your ability. And enjoy doing it. Because every stage of life that we go through, if we learn something from it, it'll take us into the next stage."

What else would you like to say to me?

"I’d like to say be proud of yourself," Aaliyah Messiah said. "And when you're proud of yourself, that means you're doing the things you need to do."

"Stay positive, stay encouraged," she said. "Ask questions. Don't feel like, ‘Oh, I need to figure this out on my own.’ And don’t disappoint yourself and don’t disappoint your family. Make us all proud of you. And make yourself proud."

This story was produced in a RadioActive Youth Media introductory workshop for high school-age youth. Production assistance by Nina Tran. Edited and prepared for the web by Kelsey Kupferer.

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