32 unread messages. Alexandria put down the phone, frustrated. How would she get through the next few days? Looking for answers, or distraction, she picked up the phone and started watching videos. One video caught her eye. A remarkable individual, talking about something religious or spiritual. Alex couldn’t quite make it out, but she was interested and found something impressive, maybe admirable, about the person. So, she continued watching and decided to do a bit of deeper research as an attempt to gain a stronger understanding on what she was listening to.
Alexandria didn’t come from a background that could be considered religious, or at least she wouldn’t have regarded it in that way, but she had always been open minded to the community and creativity religiosity brings. As time passed, she had increasingly consumed more content discussing the different meanings of religious literature and started creating notes on what questions arose from that direct content consumption. The main religions she became directly intrigued by were Christianity and Islam. The more videos she watched, the further she dived into a rabbit hole and she reached a point where she couldn’t find academic answers in the sense, she initially assumed she would.
Therefore, Alex reached out to a few of her close friends and the first to respond was Hafsa, who she knew had grown up following Islam as a Shiaa Muslim, with her father being an Iman at the Mosque and her mother being a university lecturer at Cambridge regarding theology studies. She started asking Hafsa if there was a right way to ask questions regarding faith, and how did faith shape her own understanding of life? She ensured to ask each friend who responded, who she knew identified as either Muslim or Christian, and her best friend who was Hindu, the same questions, noting down the variant responses.
Alexandria did not go to university and never had studied anything theologically; she just understood initially that faith was something you choose to follow through a variety of reasons and how you connected with that was an intimate and independent activity. Through this video she accidentally watched her eyes were opened to a fresher and new perspective on faith and religiosity.
The principle of this that she learnt is that having an open mind, ethical consciousness and a genuine want to learn and understand are the three core things you need in order to have a conversation. The power of these dialogues essentially allowed her to connect with her best friend and closest friends in a way she didn’t think she was possibly able to. Alexandria started baking for Hafsa and her family for Eid-Al-Iftar, giving up little things like chocolate and carbonated drinks during lent and helping her best friend with decorations for Diwali. She knew these were not things she had to do but asked them of herself as a means to engage and have further conversations with those closest to her, about things that meant a lot to them, their families and their culture.
This story was submitted as part of the King’s Study Phase of the Gen Z Role Models Project. Added April 2026.
“decided to do a bit of deeper research” (S181) © 2026 by The Gen Z Role Models Project is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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