Regina High graduate ‘channels her beliefs into poetry’

IOWA CITY — Maya Dahdaleh feels “a pang of anger” that fuels the poetry she writes to shed light on the injustices she sees in Palestine, territories where thousands have been killed and millions displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance.

The 18-year-old is one of 52 students who graduated May 19 from Regina High School in Iowa City. She and her family moved from Jordan about two years ago to Iowa City for more opportunities, Dahdaleh said.

Writing poetry about current events is “really vulnerable,” Dahdaleh said. She has occasionally performed her poetry around Iowa City, and there’s “always someone in the audience who comes up after you perform and says ,‘That was really incredible.”

Dahdaleh plans to continue writing and will attend the University of Iowa this fall to study English and creative writing, she said.

Moving to a new country as a teenager was “leaving every bit of normalcy” she knew, Dahdaleh said. But she soon made friends at Regina, a private Catholic school that offered her a student visa.

“I got to move across the world and be in a country that’s safe. It empowers me to do better and to inform others,” Dahdaleh said.

She doesn’t want writing to be a “phase,” Dahdaleh said. She wants to write books and be a public speaker who advocates “for those who don’t have a voice,” she said.

“I love how she channels her beliefs into poetry. There’s never a dry eye every time she reads her poems. It’s from the heart,” said her mother, Eliane Abdel-Malek.

Abdel-Malek has been a teacher at her daughter’s schools since she was in second grade. Today, she teaches at Regina as the K-12 English Language Learner teacher.

“It’s going to feel weird without her,” Abdel-Malek said.

Dahdaleh is youngest child in her family. “It’s a bit scary we’ll have an empty nest, but we’re very, very proud of her,” Abdel-Malek said.

Enrolling Dahdaleh at Regina was “the best decision ever,” Abdel-Malek said. “The community here is amazing,” she said.

Before Dahdaleh began at Regina, the school put her in touch with two of her classmates who “embraced her.”

Although Jordan is a predominantly Muslim country, Dahdaleh was born and raised Catholic. At Regina, it became a faith she began practicing.

“I feel him in my heart,” she said.

Abdel-Malek also is Catholic. Her husband is Greek Orthodox. They wanted Dahdaleh to decide her religion for herself. “It’s heartwarming to see her turn spiritual,” Abdel-Malek said.

After beginning at Regina, Dahdaleh soon began participating in theater and was in her school’s productions of “Grease the Musical,” “The Curious Savage” and “12 Angry Jurors.”

“It’s powerful to go on stage and project your voice and be heard as someone completely different,” Dahdaleh said about acting.

The family moved to Iowa because family were already in the area. Dahdaleh fondly recalls visiting in the summers.

Abdel-Malek said her daughter “welcomed the change” and “didn’t look back.”

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