From hockey practice to Harvard

A typical day for 16 year old Hakima Abdikadir includes the following: a stop at the hockey rink, a flight to Boston, a few six hour lectures at Harvard, and a plane back to Dallas. The next weekend, she’ll do it again.

In the month of October, Abdikadir was scouted by Harvard, Brown, Princeton, and Columbia for her significant achievement playing ice hockey.

“I was so shocked,” Abdikadir said. “I kind of fell and sat on the floor for a while. It was insane. A couple weeks later I got notice from Columbia University, and that was pretty intense too.”

Though Abdikadir has recently moved from Kenya her junior year, she has been on hockey teams throughout her whole life. At the age of fourteen, she joined her team in Dallas that is affiliated with the Dallas Stars, the Supernovas.

“I was always better in field hockey than I was at ice hockey, but when I got injured my sophomore year in Kenya, I didn’t get to finish off the season,” Abdikadir said. “I had a hockey stick shoved in my hip joint and it ripped all the ligaments and tendons in my hip, completely removing the head of my femur from that joint. It put me way back on schedule. When I moved here, I couldn’t find any field hockey teams. I thanked God that I could still play ice hockey.”

On the team, she plays both right and left winger along with her teammate, Chris Daley. According to Daley, being the only girl on the team doesn’t place Abdikadir at a disadvantage.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate,” Daley said. “She’s incredibly talented and insanely funny. It makes the long and very tiring practices worth going to. When we first started playing other teams, I remember how the guys from the other teams would always taunt and jibe at her for being a girl. She would just smile and wink at them… sometimes even blow kisses in their direction before showing them up on the ice.”

Abdikadir admits that she doesn’t mind being the only girl on the rink.

“Some people might think being the only girl can be tough, but I’ve never thought of it like that. My teammates are genuinely nice, welcoming people,” Abdikadir said. “I do trust those guys with my life and I am really glad I met every single one of them.”

While she takes these hockey offers from ivy leagues with great consideration, she is also applying through a separate application in case she gets injured during the season. Despite what will happen, she continues to hold hockey close to her heart.

“My favorite thing about hockey is the sound your skates make when you’re on the ice,” Abdikadir said. “It’s like they are literally cutting through all the tension of the day. If I am having a bad day, it really doesn’t matter what time or day it is, I will just head to the rinks. Even listening to the sound of other players’ skates calms me down. Some people do yoga, people write letters, others light candles. For me, my therapeutic thing is skates cutting through ice.”

Along with her athletic priorities, Abdikadir also commutes weekly to Boston to continue her research at Harvard. During her attendance at The Congress for Future Medical Leaders in the summer of 2015, she was invited to do research on sleeping sickness at Harvard during school weekends with Professor Daniel Kahne, an undergraduate biochemistry and chemistry instructor.

“Doing research was something I was obviously interested and passionate about, but I just didn’t have the time since it was during the school year,” Abdikadir said. “Then, he offered me to visit Harvard during the weekends. No doubt, I was all in. I’ve got a lot of air miles, but it’s one of the perks.”

Professor Kahne saw incredible potential in Hakima.

“She has such a bright mind and personality,” Kahne said. “The research opportunity not only benefits her, but me as well.”

Prior to arriving at the U.S., Abdikadir has been studying and researching up on sleeping sickness at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

“When I tell most people I research sleeping sickness, they think I do it with neurologists or psychologists and place weird diodes and stuff on people and creep on them when they sleep,” Abdikadir said. “The actual thing is it’s the complete opposite.”

During Abdikadir’s studies at the campus, she spent most of her time in the laboratories. Growing viruses, she would look at alternations in their DNA to solve how to get rid of it.

“It gets boring sometimes, I will admit, just sitting there and staring at viruses in the lab the whole day,” she said. “But the thing is working with Dr. Kahne more than lifts the tedium of it all.”

Abdikadir admits Harvard is her top choice college.

“Walking around Harvard, it feels natural,” Abdikadir said. “I talked to a bunch of students and my experience at the college thus far was amazing. Also, Boston is the greatest city on earth. Full stop. End of story. No debate.”

Abdikadir has achieved perfect scores on both her ACT and SAT. Unlike the majority, her process of getting that 2400 had unique obstacles. Having just moved to the U.S in the October of 2014, she received a 1450 on her first SAT.

“I’m going to be frank- I had no idea what was going on.” Abdikadir said. “So, that was a complete mess. Once I kept studying and trying, I kind of got the hang of it. So, I took the SAT again the May of junior year and got an 1810. This past October, I took it again and, well, miracles took place, and I got a 2400.”

Along with standardized testing, coming to America also presented her with an atmosphere that was not familiar to her previously.

“Before coming to U.S., I was very close minded,” Abdikadir said. “I thought I was going to get bullied because I was a new kid. But then, I came here. I understand the Southlake mentality isn’t the same as the U.S., but the people that you meet…they are all so humble and so accomplished in their own right. I was taken aback the first couple times of talking to people.”

Abdikadir looks forward to a future of more academic and athletic achievements.

“I feel so incredibly blessed to have come here to the U.S. because I feel like it really has helped propel my research and given me opportunities I never even thought possible.” Abdikadir said. “I am so happy to be able to still play hockey.”