Photos by Courtesy of Dwiki Abidin

Dwiki Abidin has proved to be an inspiration at Athens Drive, balancing work and fun to reach success.

A diligent student or a tireless athlete.

A generous brother or a darling friend.

A devoted son or a dream chaser.

Many people struggle with American ideals and the societal expectations of decisiveness, or the inflexible need to have a niche, but this second-generation immigrant knows to replace “or” with “and.”

Dwiki Abidin: A diligent student, a tireless athlete, a devoted son and, on top of that, a forthcoming successful YouTuber. 

Though Abidin has found his place at Athens in the classroom and on the field, keeping up with his grades and taking part in the football and wrestling teams at our school, his true light shines through his passions and personality.

Abidin’s parents immigrated from Indonesia to the midst of American life. They jumped quickly into the lifestyle of the American dreamer, working very hard to ensure a life for their children, both taking on full-time jobs. Abidin, the oldest sibling in the family, goes the extra mile to do his part.

“I have two sisters and a brother– my brother and sister are twins,” said Abidin. “I just want to be there for them.”

When lunchtime hits in the middle of the school day, Abidin takes his momentary leave from school to go home and take care of his younger siblings. He makes sure they get to school, eat the food their mother packed them and get their homework done.

“I make sure my loved ones are alright before I make sure I’m alright,” he said. 

That mindset travels across his relationship with his family to his relationship with his friends.

“He’s a great friend. He’s definitely one of my best,” said Jocelyn Gueritas, a close friend of Dwiki’s. “He’s always there. He’s always motivating me, giving me advice, keeping a positive vibe. We all love Dwiki. You can’t not love him.”

That seems to be a consensus among those who know Abidin: “You can’t not love Dwiki.”

“I get it from my mom,” Abidin said. 

Ms. Abidin’s selfless personality traveled down from her own heart to her sons.

“She takes care of everyone around her. Always checking up on us, making sure we’re okay before she even makes sure she’s okay. I try to be the same way,” he said.

One can only question what Abidin does for himself. 

To get away from responsibilities, Abidin found a new happy place: Youtube.

“I’ve always wanted to do Youtube. I grew up watching these big creators, like Faze Rug. I saw how they kept a positive vibe that made me, and people like me happy, and I wanted to do the same ” said Abidin. 

Youtube may be the perfect place for Abidin’s charming, open personality but that hasn’t always been clear to him.

“I didn’t use to have the confidence. So, I would make the excuse that I couldn’t start making videos because I didn’t have a camera,” said Abidin. “But my friends pushed me to it, saying that I could just use my phone to start out and I realized there was nothing really holding me back.”

It took him almost three years to take the leap of faith that he needed so he could take his life to social media, and here he is now: a Youtuber with a channel of 198 subscribers to his name.

That is the beauty of this local high school. In the sea of diversity that is Athens Drive High School, you can find someone from a different part of the world at each corner you turn. This is not just a cement building painted orange and blue. This is where we watch people like Dwiki Abidin thrive.