Here, There and Everywhere

Winter 2025
By Amy C. Evans
Photos by Gustavo Raskosky

When Basma Bedawi ’25 arrived at Rice, her dream school, in fall 2021, she already had a plan. “I started as pre-law because I cared about the issues that are facing us as a society,” Bedawi says. “I don’t want to just have the information. I want to do something about it.” 

And while the pre-law track checked a lot of boxes for her career path, there was a long-held dream she could not shake — to be a journalist. “I used to watch Diane Sawyer religiously, because I loved that way of communicating information,” Bedawi remembers. “I thought, this is how you let people know what’s going on.” 

The fact that Rice doesn’t offer a journalism major was not a deterrent. “I realized how much power there is in writing, so I decided that I’m going to do my best to chase this thing, journalism.” Bedawi began seeking courses that would help hone her writing skills. She took Professor Kiese Laymon’s creative nonfiction course, and that experience inspired her to add English with a concentration in creative writing to her two other majors — social policy analysis and sociology. 

“It’s a very specific intersection that I have invented for myself at Rice by using this combination of majors,” she says. “It’s a way for me to build the strongest skill set I can with the resources available to me while I’m here.” 

One of those resources was the support Bedawi received as a Moody Research Fellow. Last summer, she used the Moody stipend to support a short stint in New York City, where she interned at Vulture, the entertainment news website affiliated with New York Magazine. “I really like looking at media and pop culture through the lens of sociology and social issues and kind of reframing it,” she says, “looking through the lens of how something fits into greater society and how it is a reflection of greater society.” 

Even with a heavy academic load, Bedawi has managed to maintain a vibrant extracurricular life. “I’m a very work-hard-play-hard person, and I try my best to strike a good balance between the two,” she says with a smile. She serves as co-editor in chief of The Wild Grain, the English department’s online magazine, and writes for the Rice Thresher. 

KTRU also serves as a creative anchor for Bedawi’s hectic schedule. Every Monday morning, she starts her busy week off the same way: deejaying an hourlong set. When asked if she has discovered a new song or band that she is into, Bedawi does not miss a beat. “I like ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ by the Beatles,” she says. “That’s one I’ve been listening to a lot.” 

When Bedawi graduates in the spring, she will take all of the experiences she accumulated at Rice with her into the field of journalism. So, look for her byline to appear here, there and everywhere. 

Kiese Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of Creative Writing and English in the School of Humanities