Those who hear her relish her voice for its capacity to refresh and to uplift. Ariel Haney '06 enthused, "There is so much emotion and subtlety in her voice that you loose track of yourself and become enchanted by her." She has also sung in the classical rock band of Dan Marks '06 and been involved in several plays and theater performances in the Five College area. Nasr also pulled a brief stint working for Student Security before the odd hours and rowdy drunks in dire need of discipline tired her out.
A meeting of her minds
Her love for performance spilled over into her academic career here at the College. A double major in English and theater and dance, Nasr hoped to both pursue her passion for art and cultivate her creativity. "My energies have always been divided between the making of art and the appreciation of art, and I have found it very difficult to choose one approach over another, so I chose both," she said.
Her thesis project in Theater and Dance consisted of two pieces: one was a shorter monologue entitled "Mouth on the Microphone," in which Nasr herself starred, and the other was a longer performance piece called "Sink the Screen" that combined various media including: video, a soundtrack originally composed by Nasr, and the stage.
Her focus in both performances was not plot; rather, she explored the emotional expression of the actors on the stage. "There wasn't any distinct narrative to either piece but more like an arc of affective intensities, and I was trying to use all the different media in order to create an accumulation of effects that would result in emotional peaks and the accumulation of an emotional confrontation," Nasr explained.
For her English thesis, Nasr switched roles, writing not from the viewpoint of the artist but from that of the audience member. She wanted to leave the world of critical analysis and theory behind to explore the simple perception of art. The central questions driving her English thesis included, "Why do I love film?...How do I love a film? What kinds of images do I love? How does the love for an art form express itself?" In her thesis, she sought to honestly convey her love for film as an art form without subjecting it to the detached rhetoric of analysis.
Nasr's intellectual acumen was always evident in her contributions in class - contributions profusely lauded by her classmates and professors alike. "She has, in all my courses, been a remarkable student, with a mature mind and manner, extraordinary intelligence, unselfconscious demeanor" marvels Professor of English John Cameron. "Having her in class, even in her first year, was almost like having a colleague there, especially in the perceptive, sometimes challenging (but never combative) questions she would raise."
An international perspective
Born and raised in Lebanon, Nasr is accustomed to viewing the world from a variety of perspectives. Though she was exposed to American culture during the two years she lived in Bethesda, MD as a child and at the American International schools she attended in Cairo and Beirut, she recalled experiencing culture shock upon arriving at Amherst. American and Lebanese cuisine and fashion differ vastly. "I miss Lebanese food at Amherst, though most of all, I miss my parents and the Mediterranean Sea," she said.
A seasoned traveler, Nasr describes the moments when she realizes her place as an outsider, "One of the most alienating experiences for me is traveling alone, in a bus, train or airplane. It is in circumstances of anonymous travel across the vast geography of America or across the Atlantic Ocean that I really sense the shock of distance and foreign, unknown spaces."
Nasr spent her summers and winters in Lebanon, volunteering for Offre Joie, French for "Offer Joy," a peace-building organization that brings together underprivileged children and orphans of different religions for summer camps and schooling. During her summers, Nasr helped to build and paint schools for the organization.
Fluent in both Arabic and French, Nasr contributed her knowledge to her work as an Arabic Language tutor in the Five College Language Center. After the Center provided her with a video camera, she shot footage of her hometown in Lebanon to help plan language curriculum and for the Center to use as tutoring materials.
A liberal arts personality
A free spirit with a fierce intellect, Nasr is in one word, distinctive. She has an enigmatic personality that cannot quite be pinned down. The enigma, say those who know her well, is part of her charm. John Kim '06 jokingly described his friend through a series of riddles, "Zeina is like a bumblebee: fuzzily soft and slowly itinerant from a distance, but wielding a very potent sting if you cross her."
"Zeina is like a mystery box with question marks all over it like in those action movies: you know that it could either solve everything or it could destroy the world," Kim continued. "Zeina is like Secretariat: it could be said that she was bred for success, that she possessed a longer-than-average stride, etc., but that in the end, what mattered most was that she was blessed with an abnormally large heart."
Her care-free and open-hearted attitude towards life is also remarkable. Jessamyn Cornell-Price '06 admiringly remarked, "Zeina is a black-haired beauty. When I'm going crazy and I'm convinced the world doesn't understand insanity, Zeina sends me Bjork songs. Zeina's the kind of person that can handle any mess that you throw at her. I think most people are afraid of messiness in life, Zeina relishes it."
When applying to colleges, Nasr immediately liked Amherst for its friendliness and academic rigor though she admits that she initially mistook "liberal" to mean "creative." Ironically, this misunderstanding has led to a growth in Nasr's creativity. She is grateful to Amherst for providing the nurturing and encouragement conducive to learning and creativity. "I suppose I can say one thing: I've learned to trust my intuitions," Nasr said. This trust has been a direct result of her time at Amherst "And this trust wasn't born of some duly acquired superhuman confidence, but because the Amherst environment has given me the crucial space and support to test and experiment my intuitions." With a wide grin, Nasr joked, "Basically, the Amherst lawns are very pretty and the buildings are remarkably well-heated in the winter."
After graduation, Nasr plans to return to her home in Lebanon for a year or so to spend time with her family. Though she intends to learn how to drive and to dream up plans for her future, she also hopes to gain some perspective before embarking on her next intense expedition. "Amherst has sucked me dry," Nasr dryly commented, "or I have sucked Amherst dry. Either way, I need to recuperate from the suction."
Whatever she chooses to do, Nasr's future promises to be full of sparkle and surprise.