HP Student Advocates for the Disabled and Shares His Passion for Literature

Sep 5, 2024

Saif Aslam didn’t come to Georgia Tech intending to be an advocate.  Initially, he says he intended on “keeping [his] head down, getting [his] degree, and using this time to focus on [his] passions (namely reading and writing).”  Frustration with his spatial experience on campus, which he traverses by wheelchair, compelled him to action. 

First, Saif joined the Residence Hall Association (RHA), where he has worked to make spaces more accessible to all and has received the Presidential Pin (RHA’s highest honor) in recognition of his work. Drawing attention to campus accessibility issues, he has been successful in getting sidewalk repairs completed, signage updated, and hands-free door access to locked spaces.  He has also presented on multiple issues facing students with disabilities across campus to various levels of administration, including the head of Campus Services, multiple deans, and the provost.

Building off this work, he transitioned into a leadership role with the ABLE Alliance, moving from the VP to the President role. In that position, he hopes to “smooth the way” for future Georgia Tech students so that they encounter fewer challenges and access issues.  Saif reflected that, “It's my hope that with ABLE Alliance I can continue to build up an infrastructure in which future students will be able to attend this school, and never once even have to think about any of the issues that I [experienced].”

But his work in advocating for those with disabilities is only one part of his accomplishments since coming to Georgia Tech.  Since he was a child, Saif has engaged his active imagination, sometimes to cope with lack of access to physical spaces.

When I was really young, about four or 5 years old, I remember when my family had gone to survey the forest in our backyard when our new house was being built. Everyone else went to go see what was behind the tree line, but I had to stay in the car since I was unable to walk alongside everyone else. At that moment, I instead imagined what the forest would look like since I was unable to go there myself, imagining a rushing river with clear water wetting a craggily outcropping of smooth grey stones. I touched the water with my hands and felt it surrounding my finger as it pressed against the stone, trying to wash it away as it stood firm against its force. I could hear it, I could feel it, I could smell it all as if I was right there. I continued to imagine like this, creating my own settings and worlds when I couldn't go out into this one.

COVID was a moment of intense isolation for Saif, and he realized that writing could be a way of sharing his active imagination—and the characters and places he created—with the outside world.  His passion for writing has culminated in his latest book publication, titled Beyond.  It’s his first full-length novel, set in a land with a constantly changing landscape with all sorts of “wicked and wonderful things.”  He’s also shared his passion for reading and writing through the creation of the Honors Program Literary Society (HPLS), a group that connects book lovers for discussion and bi-weekly programming.  Saif serves as the President and fellow HP student Jenna Prokash is the VP.  HPLS has been a big focus of Saif’s involvement with the Honors Program, but he comes from a family of Honors Program involvement.  Both of his sisters have been part of the Honors Program, and it has given Saif “an environment in which [he’s] able to pursue additional engagement and activities outside of GT work.”  Indeed, he’s pushed himself with all those “engagements and activities,” whether advocating for those who live with disabilities or bringing those who love to read together in community.  Saif reflected that, “each day I'm determined to make the next one better,” and he’s making things better for those around him at the same time.