Rezk's Redemption by Zachary Lecky

Rezk's Redemption by Zachary Lecky- Section 1 

*Peter Rezk recently took time to sit down with me via FaceTime during his busy final weeks of his freshman year at Carnegie Mellon to discuss life, culture, family, and Egypt, he gives his consent to be interviewed and for this narrative about his life*

It was a night time movie showing in Bayonne, New Jersey with all the parents and students enjoying a film. All the parents had brought lawn chairs to sit down and relax in the cold night. As the night went on Peter’s father got tired and wanted to sit. He told Peter to run home and get him a chair to sit, Peter declined. He didn’t know at that time his father was in so much pain and agony. His father would die a few months later after a battle with cancer. Young Peter held on to this moment. He would change this moment if he could.

(young peter with his father)

(graduation day with his mother and father) 

Peter Rezk now 19, appreciates the way he was brought up despite it being tough. “My parents thought me right from wrong”. Rezk recalls reading an article of a local Jersey City teenage getting murdered and the message his father told him; “Peter, do you want to become that kid?”. “If you don't stay in the books, get an education and a well paying job”. That's how he was raised, a mindset in the books. He was raised with his future aspirations always in his head, every move he made was with his future goals in mind.

(at county prep high school prom)

Rezk Rezk married Mervat Andrawes in Egypt. Rezk came to America to get a better life for his new found wife. He came to Jersey City and built a foundation here for his the family he envisioned before bringing Mervat from Egypt. They worked and grinded for two years before having their first child. They would name him Peter. They would have two other children Anna and John. 

(selfie with the family)

Peter being the oldest child out of three, felt the need to be a leader for his siblings. “I thought being the dad in the house, would be cool, I thought I would finally take a father figure role in the house, that didn’t work out”. Rezk felt like his siblings rejected that notion, they would point out any flaw and report him to their mother. He does respect the pressures of being the first born child of two Egyptian immigrants. “Being the first one to do everything is important”. 

(group photo on a field trip during senior year) 

Bayonne, New Jersey has a huge Egyptian population with many cultural roots, churches, communities, schools and organizations. This has helped Peter mold his behavior and stay in touch his with culture. He feels as if many Egyptians migrated from Jersey City. Jersey City was named the most diverse city in America numerous years in a row. “As the violence in Jersey City rose I feel like the Egyptians said I got to get the hell out of here and move to the closest city”. That's the only explanation Peter can think of as to why they have such a huge Egyptian population.

(photo after church in jersey city)

He isn’t sure how his father’s death impacted his life due to the fact he is still young, growing and learning. The life insurance, Rezk Rezk had has helped the family, he was a smart man who wanted his family to be stable beyond his life. Being the man of the house in an Egyptian culture is very important. There is certain gender roles that have been placed on men in their culture. Becoming the man of the house at a young age, thrusted Peter in a more mature mindset. He would view things as his father and that extra responsibility made him stronger. Peter felt as if he has handled the “pressures of expectation” that usually follow many immigrants very well. As with many immigrants, their parents came here with the notion to better their children's lives. That extra pressure wasn't a burden on him because he held himself in such high regard already. “My expectations were already so high that that became the normal for me”.

Peter stays in touch with his family in Egypt quite often. On his father’s side most of his family members have passed away with the exception of his aunt who recently got married. On his mother’s side his grandmother and aunt just recently passed away. He still has his grandfather, aunts and cousins. Many of them share the same house in Egypt. Rezk strives to provide a better life for his family. Issues in Egypt have been at a recent high level. With religion wars between muslims and christians killing thousands of people. Peter is Christian but doesn’t harbor any ill will towards anyone, “I’ve never experienced that hatred for Muslims that many have. I have many best friends included you that are Muslim that I love like a brother”. From what he has noticed he feels the sense that Egyptians who come to America, what to distance themselves from Muslims there is always this sense of “you don’t know what they are capable of”. They have this stigma of that Muslims are evil and abusive to them. Rezk has heard of stories that Muslims abuse Christians in Egypt. He wants to downplay his thought process and not let it affect him. 

(group photo at prom)

(graduation day picture with his mother and diploma)

Peter Rezk is a brilliant young man, he got a 2200 on his SAT. All that hard work was paying off, he would apply to many Ivy League schools and top ranking schools. “I didn’t want to end up in Rutgers, not saying Rutgers is a bad school, but i didn't want all this extra hard work to end up not really factoring in”. Rezk would get into Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, they have a 21.7% acceptance rate. Peter made it with the big boys, surely making his father proud.

(photo with friends at CMU)

He is currently interesting in the field of medicine. He is currently thinking oncology or neurosurgeon. One day he definitely wants to pressure something with psychology with hopes of reaching a medical board of some sorts. He would love to teach a class to pass along the knowledge he has to offer. “I just want to be happy with my family, I want to live the rest of my life like this with a wife and a couple kids, that the dream”. “All of this comes with financial stability”.  He just wants to make everyone proud and to represent for Egypt.

(photo posted up in the high school hallways)

Rezk loves his Egyptian roots and heritage with his favorite foods being Macaroni Bechamel and Kofta. “I definitely recommend it, Egyptian food is heaven”. 

(selfie with friend)