Inspire Me To Read | ألهِمني لِأقرأ

Dear Blog/Diary,

Not too long ago I participated in a reading contest in college.

‘The College Reader of The Year’ contest.

I was hoping that I would be chosen to go to the next level, but at the same time I was terrified of them doing so. Yes. Honestly.

And I think I was terrified of being nominated to go to the next level for two main reasons, which are:

1. I have never participated in any kind of contest or competition before.
2. I don’t know what do after being selected and I was afraid of not meeting the judges’ expectations. (So, 'pressure' was the second reason.)

Guess what happened?

I got nominated for the second level!

Preparing the audition's presentation

Now, first of, I love presentations. I actually enjoy doing them from the beginning–(Extracting information)–to the end–(Standing up and presenting).

But for some reason I was honestly so nervous about standing and talking about the book I chose, which was ‘رقائق القرآن’ by the way, and get asked questions and be judged. Being judged, even if it was ‘for my own good’ is one of my worst pet peeves. Ever. And, quite frankly, I hate anything that I have to compete in order to get it. That’s why I have never been a part of a competition before, I guess.

So, what happened after I was nervous about it?

When the auditioning was an hour away, everything that had me worried or got me nervous just melted away. Somehow.

I stood up before them, talked my heart out, took twice as much time as I was supposed to–HAHA!–and just felt like I was just being me and I was just talking to someone about a book that I really loved.

And the ‘judges’ were a few amazing students and one of the college’s staff–which was especially nice and kind. So, I need to thank them for simply being as good people as they are.

After that, I left the building and they said they’d get back to us in a week or so with the names of the five nominees for the final stage of the contest.

Guess what happened?

I did NOT get nominated to go to the next level.

To be honest here, I really thought that I was going to get nominated and maybe even win the title.

Yeah, guess what happened to my good ol' ego?

It got crushed.

At first.

Because, when you think about it, it’s quite childish to think that if you did not win something then you are bad at it. Or if you did not get what you were rooting for, then you are no good.

The first thing I thought when I knew I wasn’t nominated was this: “Oh my God! I can’t believe I made a fool out of myself. I shouldn’t have even put my name in there with them!”

But, honestly? That’s just the way a shallow person would think. And I refuse to think that I am anywhere near that person.

Let me tell you what I love about this; after two or three days of announcing the nominees for the final stage, it was time to write a blogpost for my (Her-Happiness-Project) blog. And that day, the resolution that I was supposed to talk about, said EXACTLY what I realised and what I took as a lesson from my participation with that club.

To make a long lesson short, read this post:

Her Happiness Project - Dreams 

–

Now, two days ago, Tuesday, 17th of March, there was this event in our college called ‘ألهِمني لِأَقرَأ’ which means ‘Inspire me to read’. that’s a quite nice name, isn’t it?

During the event

After the event

Anyhow, I got there–a bit late due to having a class at the same time–and watched three of the five nominees giving their speeches, and all three were really good ma sha’Allah!

There were a few more subjects and people talking, and all of them were very inspiring. One way or another.

At the end, one of the five nominees WON!

She was one of the three girls that I watched give their speech and she is the girl I voted for! So, in my opinion, for her, the first place and the title are well deserved.

–

After that event, Awrag club hosted a very famous Books’n’Cafe in our college, Bookccino, ALL THE WAY FROM RIYADH! (They are awesome. I've been seeing their feed in the social networking sites a long time ago. And they are really something to admire.)

They set this cute little tent right in front of the area where the event took place.

It was so crowded that I had to wait till they all left for their classes and I stayed and just viewed the books more carefully and fairly(For the books and for me..).

At the end, I left with three books (That I wasn’t really planning on buying. But never mind that.)

All are arabic:

1. شآبيب' - للكاتب: إبن عايض صالح'

2. القرآن لفجرٍ آخر' - للكاتب: الدكتور أحمد العُمَري'

3. من أي شيءٍ خُلِقَت؟' - للكاتبة: ميثاء المهيري'

–

Everything about that club and that event got me knowing things about my college–about colleges in general–that I didn't know before; They could actually be FUN. And you could actually enjoy it!

I am admiring all the students with those creative and generous ideas, I wish you all the best and I'm most looking forward to your next activities.

* * *

ENJOY THE FUN OF FAILURE

الخَطُّ العَرَبِيْ | Arabic Calligraphy

February 28th and March 1st of the year 2015 were the first days I ever took a calligraphy basics course.

Mr. Yousef Ibraheem, the instructor of the course, said that those two days were merely us being given a key to open a door to the world of the beautifully beautiful Arabic calligraphy.

And it is such a bliss for me to feel like I am finally beginning my journey in the sea of one of the most enchanting arts in the world.

And what makes it even so much more special, is that the calligraphy I am learning is the ARABIC calligraphy.

It's like painting a canvas, or composing the notes of a musical master piece.. It may slightly be more aesthetic!

At the first day, Saturday, February 28th, we learned the most basic and 'formal' type of the Arabic calligraphy, which was: ‘خط النسخ’.

It is exactly as I described it; very basic and formal.

The easiest one to read. Yet, not as easy to write.

It has specific rules and felt very strict; for the way you should hold your pen while writing could change the whole letter that you are writing.

We used the 3.0 mm pen, it was neither too thin nor too thick, which made it the perfect measure to write with for the first time.

 

 

Mr. Yousef gave us a homework that day; we had to write the following sentence in a paper that he gave us:

"حَبيبي يَا رَسُولُ الله"

He said that he chose this one for two main reasons:

1. So we could learn how to write the letters that we learned to write separately, put together.

2. To write it with a good conscious, for the respect for Allah's name.

 

 

 

Working on that homework was absolutely joyful!

The day after, Sunday, March the 1st, we learned the basics of a different type of the Arabic calligraphy: ‘الخط الديواني’

'Addewany', in my opinion, is the exact opposite of the 'Naskh'.

All the edges were soft and everything about this one felt elegant and sweet for the eyes to read.

It is much easier than the one before, which makes it more fun. But there still is a little bit of difficulty to writing it—and reading it. (Needing to get that specific soft turn of the pen and getting the right measure and size of the letter itself..)

At the end of that day, he amazingly wrote us: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم - "In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful"

 

(All the photos above are the hand-writing of Mr. Yousef.)

* * *

I've wanted to take a calligraphy course—an Arabic calligraphy course—since forever.

And I honestly have never thought that I actually could.

My mom is an artist. And there's this atelier that she goes to that hosts a number of sketching/drawing courses regularly.

She told me last week, that their atelier will be hosting a calligraphy course. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy that made me!

Going to that course proved me wrong. It proved to me that I can. And it's not really that big of deal for me to think that I cannot do it. And it gave me the opportunity to actually believe that I can.

Thank you, mom, for giving me the opportunity to attend that course.

And thank you, Mr. Yousef, for giving that artistic course!

I am most excited to have opened the wrapping of this gift. And I am very much looking forward to start the journey of exploring the abilities of my hand holding a pen.

 

 

 

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