Hala Taha

And, like, I was just this very, like, bubbly person who was, like, always, like, you know, lead of the plays.

And then suddenly it was, like, all these opportunities were stripped away from me.

But I hate looking at things, like, in a victim mindset.

And, like, for me, it's, like, I'm so, like, grateful that happened to me because then when I got to college—

I ended up getting into like a regular school because I had like no extracurricular activities because I literally was not basically allowed to participate in anything in high school.

And I got into like a school that was really diverse in Newark, New Jersey, called NGIT.

And when I got there, there was like Black students, Spanish students, Indian students, Arab students, and actually not many white students.

And suddenly it was...

I was equal again.

And I was getting all the opportunities.

And so I became very ambitious and popular.

And I also didn't fear rejection anymore because I got rejected so much.

Imagine literally everything I wanted to try in high school, I was denied.

So I was just so used to rejection.

And that gave me like really thick skin where like I didn't care.

I tried for everything because I just figured rejection is just part of the process.

And I just got very used to it.

So I think it gave me an edge, which is why when I was 19, you know, I was already working at a station, hanging out with celebrities and, you know, doing really cool stuff when everybody else was like doing their regular college thing, you know.

So I'm grateful for those experiences.

But that definitely was...