A Friendly, Fearless, Funny Fuzz

Standing tall at 6’2, the black haired, brown-eyed teenager named Fuzz isn’t all just looks. He’s an honor student, athlete, family member and friend. Faziaan Hashmi, known to us as Fuzz, is often caught wearing these different shoes. For him, it’s just an average day in life, but for us, it’s one talented teenager.

Hashmi, a freshman at Virginia Tech, has already figured out how to live his life. He says, “I really like to laugh, make people laugh, and have a good time, without stressing myself out,”- an approach that will take him far in life.

Faizaan “Fuzz” Hashmi was born on July 16, 1989, and has lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for all of his life. At home, Hashmi lives with four other family members: his father, mother, brother, and sister. While his brother and sister have both gone away to school in California and Maryland, it hasn’t stopped him from being close to them. He says, “I can talk to them about anything… I’ve always considered my brother my best friend and always will.”

While Fuzz is close with his family, he also has numerous friends from school and extracurricular activities. Hashmi remembers, “Throughout middle and high school, I always had a lot of friends. I was a social kid,” and no doubt, he is right. Spencer Neubaum, one of Hashmi’s friends since kindergarten, recounts Fuzz “going above and beyond to help me out when I was ill, and letting me stay over at his house whenever I needed.” Fuzz says “I love all of them and would never let anything happen to them” as he describes his friends.

Fuzz’s caring attitude continues to make an impact on those he is around. Born and raised Muslim, Hashmi tries to follow example set by his mother. He says “I try to live by good morals and try not to do anything to hurt anyone.”

When Fuzz was in high school, he kept a challenging schedule, taking all honors and Advanced Placement classes. Neubaum remembers Hashmi “studying a lot and not giving up when he didn’t understand something.” Fuzz’s good work ethic paid off; he was accepted into his first choice university and completed his high school career with a 3.40 un-weighted grade point average.

Hashmi, an undergraduate studying business, hopes to graduate in the spring of 2011 and enter the business world with his father. “My dad and I are both business men, which helped me decide what I needed to do in college,” he stated.

Outside of the classroom, Fuzz keeps busy. He boxes, wrestles, and enjoys playing football with his friends. Recently starting boxing, he is especially proud of his initial starting record: 8-0. When not engaging in sports, he could be caught playing pool or foosball, which he claims “I’m a beast at.” He also enjoys playing Xbox, watching movies, and hanging out with friends, like any normal teenager.

Typical to athletes, Hashmi has faced his fair share of injuries. Specifically, Fuzz remembers damaging his ankle on day during wrestling practice of his sophomore year. “I was practicing a new maneuver, and my partner had gotten such a strong hold on my leg that I ended up breaking it and dislocating it into three places when I tried to get out of the hold,” recounts Hashmi. He says there are now twelve screws and a metal plate permanently fixed in his ankle.

Aside from his wrestling injury, another memory that stands out for Fuzz was attending the Vans Warped Tour concert during the summer after his freshman year. Some of Hashmi’s favorites were present, and he was able to retrieve autographs from them.

For most of his life, Fuzz has been interested in rock music. An active musician, Fuzz has played guitar since middle school and continues to do so today. While his musical tastes aren’t that of heavy metal, they do include some contemporary rock: Rise Against, Brand New, Halifax, and the occasional rap and techno.

Outside of playing guitar and sports, Fuzz enjoys going out and having a good time. Like many students, Fuzz states “My friends and I love to go out and party.” One thing Fuzz would do with his friends in high school is go out for sushi three times a week. “As soon as we would walk in the door, they would automatically start preparing our food,” he says. It wasn’t the only usual hangout for Fuzz – during football season he would meet up at his friend Mike’s house and eat wings while watching the Redskins game.

During his last year in high school, he spent his time after as cashier at Harris Teeter, a grocery store near his house. He was named ‘cashier of the week’ during the opening week of the store, something that he will never forget.

While it appears Fuzz spends all his time with friends, playing sports, or doing schoolwork, he tries to put some time aside for himself. With his health and fitness in mind, he “loves to go to the gym and life weights,” visiting as often as four times a week. Back in high school, he used to be able to leg-press 1,000 lbs, a feat that he cannot reproduce today.

Trying to eat well in addition to exercise, Hashmi cut soda out of his diet during his junior year of high school. His favorite drinks are now Grape Gatorade, and iced or sweet tea, and he’ll indulge in one of them when he goes out for a meal.

With a life full of sports, school, family, and friends, it is no wonder why Fuzz is happy. He has everything he needs, has figured out what he wants to do with his life, and how to get the most out of his time.

On each day of Fuzz’s life, he tries to “live by good moral standards and to not do anything that would let my parents down.” With his positive outlook on life, Faziaan “Fuzz” Hashmi will accomplish his dream of becoming a successful businessman, taking one day at a time.