PLP 08 Profile: Aryana Khalid

Name: Aryana Khalid
Age: 29
Born: Born in Aberdeen Scotland, grew up in Houston, TX
Current Digs: Work in Richmond, live in Stafford
Occupation: Assistant Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources
Favorite part about the job: While things may not always go the way you would like at work, the best thing about my job is that everyday I feel like I am really helping someone.
Your first job ever?  Sales Associate at Express - at least I got a discount on my high school wardrobe :)
Favorite book?  Too many to pick just one - Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Anything by Jane Austen, Memoirs of a Geisha, Pillars of the Earth, Freakanomics, Into Thin Air, Conspiracy of Fools A True Story, The Alchemist, A Fine Balance
Favorite movie?  Too many to pick just one - Anything with Audrey Hepburn, To Have and Have Not, Star Wars movies, Lord of the Rings trilogy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Tommy Boy, The Usual Suspects
Comfort food?  Anything with chocolate
What's in your car CD player right now?  Don't use the CD player anymore since I have an IPOD connection in the car :).  For me this means that I listen to A LOT of audio books (I have an hour commute each way)
Next journey?  Vancouver and Seattle. . .then definitely a trip back to Europe. . .and eventually a trip to Asia and Africa
Favorite Virginia vacation spot?  Definitely Charlottesville
First political memory?  Watching President Regan speak
Whom do you admire and why?  Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, Junior.  They both believed in something that many people of their time could not understand, yet they persevered and ended up changing not just our country but also the world.
Best advice you ever got?  Don't ask for permission first, ask for forgiveness later.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why?  Bono and Muhammad Yunus.  Anyone who makes it their mission to eradicate poverty is someone I want to meet.  
Describe a perfect day. The first would be a day where everyone in my family can be together eating some delicious food and sharing fun stories.  The second would be a rainy day curled up in a windowsill with a good book.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you?  I love to dance flamenco, well I just love to dance in general.
Ambition, political or otherwise?  On the career side, I want to give back to the community in a way the helps people break the cycle of poverty and I want to change our healthcare system to one that is inclusive of all people.  On the family side, I want to be the best wife and daughter that I can be.  I hope that despite my many flaws (we all have them) that I behave in a manner that my Mom would always be proud of, that I am kind to people, and that I genuinely try to help others and make my community better.  I certainly do not meet all three of those criteria every day, so the day I can do all three consistently I will know that I have made it.