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Our team at Miller, Dawson, Sigal, and Ward awards the Thumbs Up Guys Scholarship to encourage students to embrace the importance of helping others and engaging in community service. This year, we’re proud to name Bailey Hughes as one of our three winners, awarding her a $1,000 prize.
Ms. Hughes hails from Rochester, New York, where she became involved with the Turkish Cultural Center of Rochester after moving to the area. During her time with the Cultural Center, she became engaged in the editing and production of Salaam Magazine.
Ms. Hughes assisted with the Center throughout the pandemic, increasing her support by acting as Board Secretary and working as a member of the Advisory Board for Advocates of Silenced Turkey, an organization that focuses on human rights abuses in the area.
During her time at the Cultural Center, Ms. Hughes became involved with editing and supporting Salaam Magazine, the first Islamic children’s magazine in the United States, believing that it had “became a valuable tool for the children writing to express themselves and for the children reading to see themselves on the page.”
In addition to helping with the production of the physical magazine, Ms. Hughes reports that she’s “helped edit and craft messages for the new website, along with editing articles and comics for each issue of the magazine.”
With Ms. Hughes’ assistance, Salaam Magazine has grown enough to draw the attention of the Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America Convention (MAS-ICNA). Ms. Hughes focuses on “helping bring stories to life that encourage children to learn more about their cultures and faith.”
Ms. Hughes credits much of her focus on helping others and serving the community to the influence of her grandmothers, who supported their families and communities throughout their lives.
What does Bailey Hughes Plan to Do Next?
Ms. Hughes recently completed her Political Science Degree at the University of Missouri. She plans to pursue her law degree with enrollment at the University of Buffalo.
Ms. Hughes used her experience as a paralegal to decide that the legal sector represented the right way for her to help her community. She plans to find a way to help asylees and refugees as they search for safe homes, focusing on the protection of human rights in the international sector.
