Nousha Aldhefery’s presence at Sahuaro seems to have a bigger presence than she originally intended.

From the time that I have known Nousha, she’s always been loud. Whether it is refusing to tie her shoelaces, announcing her belief that Abraham Lincoln is the “sexiest president to date” to kidding around with the elderly at Cascades of Tucson retirement home where she works, or educating racists with unwavering patience coupled with jokes. Her pursuit of the eccentric is noted.

But having a voice bigger than her aura is where Nousha finds her problem.

The “loud girl” stereotype has pigeonholed her into a cycle of landing jokes and yelling. That’s it and it’s all somewhat suffocating. “Being the loud girl sucks!” she said, smiling as she shoveled Turbos into her mouth. “If I’m in class and I get quiet, people start to get worried. Sometimes I catch myself talking out loud just because.”

Why do stereotypes persist, even when people explicitly disavow them? In Nousha’s case, she’s always reminding herself that she’s more than a quirky girl starter pack.

For one, she’s the biggest Selena Gomez fan on the planet. How do I know this? She owns her albums as CD’s in a day and age where CD’s are just as obsolete as a Walkman. She, also, can solve any Rubik’s cube placed in her hand. “A 12-sided cube?” she says. “I can solve it in 4 minutes flat.” She’s taught herself the guitar, ukulele, and piano, and writes her own songs.

She’s familiar with loss, and in the wake of her mom’s passing from stage 4 liver cancer just a few months ago, she simultaneously still received straight A’s and manages to keep her sense of humor. She still believes that the world is her oyster and walks through her life with unprecedented optimism.

But why? Her bravado of optimism is as loud as she is. “You can be whoever you want to be no matter the circumstances,” she says. She continues with, “You can be the greatest if you want to be. It’s just a lot of people give up hope. I called myself dumb for the longest time until I genuinely sat down and started studying on my own. I asked for help when I needed it. I’m smart and capable. I always tell myself that I’m smart and multifaceted no matter what I am perceived to be from other people.”