Class of 2024
Yaser Saleh has been passionate about sports since he was in elementary school, especially wrestling, mixed martial arts (MMA) and basketball. Although his cerebral palsy made it difficult for him to participate in competitive sports, he entertained his friends by providing live sports commentary.
“When I was 9 years old, I had the honor of rapping on a bullhorn for poetry day in front of the whole school,” he says. “From that moment on, I was like, ‘I have to be that guy on that big stage.'”
But Saleh thought further and challenged himself by narrowing down his bucket list within that framework to things he wanted to do: rapper, actor, lawyer, commentator, etc. “I thought I’d focus on journalism,” Saleh explained.
When he enrolled at university, Saleh identified as a student with a disability and worked with York’s support specialists, taking advantage of his professors’ office hours, both in person and over the phone. “Professors Hughes, Moore, Wani and Lewis were fantastic. Our communication was probably deeper than it would be for a typical student,” he says. “But when they saw that I was committed to my work despite my mental and physical challenges, they were more proactive in supporting me.”
Saleh noted that people can’t always see disabilities in others. Although he used a walker when he first enrolled at York University in 2019, he no longer needed one when he returned in 2022. Many of the physical presences and signs that could be recognized as a disability were not there. However, the challenge he faced was adapting to the social environment of the university as a person with an invisible disability. This is something that people without visible physical disabilities experience when people assume that a “disability” is only something that is physically visible. “I didn’t allow it to be a determining factor in my success in life,” he explained.
York University’s journalism department helped Saleh land an internship at WBAI, where he worked with program director Linda Perry. “She held me in check, helped me hone my skills and showed me how to work in a professional environment,” he said. “I had a lot of raw talent, but I needed to hone it.” Saleh got the chance to produce a segment on one of Perry’s shows, “Disability in Action.” What he remembers most about his time at WBAI is when she told him, “You have a magic voice.” “That motivated me to persevere in the field,” Saleh said.
Sports is one of Serra’s passions, and one of the ways he satisfies this passion is his “Chokehold” podcast, where he talks about, you guessed it, mixed martial arts and wrestling. But late last year, he also took a class for Telemundo, an American Spanish-language television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, where Serra pitched an idea about the pay gap for women in sports.
His experience at WBAI encouraged Saleh so much that he decided to go to graduate school after graduating in December 2023. “I talked with my professors about what I thought was the best option in terms of education, value and affordability, and they recommended CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.” Not only did Saleh apply and get accepted, he was also offered a full scholarship. When he visited his new campus, he immediately felt at home. “This is where I belong. It felt like a very natural transition,” he said.
Saleh considers himself a jack of all trades. “I’m versatile in how I approach journalism. If you want me to write a story, I’ll write it. I can do audio pieces and street interviews,” he said. “Because of my disability, the only thing I have to work on is editing, but I’ll figure that out too.”