College and I — The Story of Us!

I have wanted to share my story of getting into the university for a very long time now. But this particular story is a bit long. And writing it needs time. (and a specific mood.)
Right now, I've got both.

Okay, here it goes;

I graduated high-school in 2010.

let's talk about my idea of 'college/university' when I was in high-school: I didn't have any. I honestly never thought about college or about a specific major seriously. It was always just one of the things that I didn't give much thought. Come to think of it, when I was in high-school I didn't give much thought of anything other than high-school. I don't why, but, I always kind of thought of college as similar thing to regular schools. You know, it'll be just going from one grade to another. Or moving from one school to another. Like graduating from middle school and going to high-school..

And by the time I was in high-school, people started asking if I had a specific major in mind for when I go to college. And my answer was ALWAYS this; English Literature. (Even though I knew nothing about that major except they read novels in it.)

At the time, I knew nothing about myself but how much I loved the English language. And from then on, English Literature was my only idea of college.

Then, when the time came and I actually graduated, I applied to only one college and one major: College of Arts - English Literature major.

And guess what? I got accepted.

But it was in Alahsa'a.

So, again, guess what? I didn't go there.

Yeah.. I didn't go.
Because it was 1. (considered) far. And 2. My parents (and myself) didn't want me to go and stay in the dorms. So that's that.

By that time, all colleges have closed their admission systems/portals.

So, that semester, the first semester after graduating, I stayed at home. With absolutely nothing to do. And with absolutely no company but boredom.
We thought it'd only be one semester. So we just thought it was good to take a semester off.

The semester after that I wanted to apply at the College of Arts in Dammam, which is nearer to home. But I didn't. Because it had a very bad reputation. And, trust me, I do know that getting a bachelor's degree is not supposed to be easy. But (after istekhara) I studied going there and I couldn't bring myself to apply at that college.

So, that semester, which is the second since graduating high-school, I got accepted at King Faisal University in the Distance Learning.

I studied online for two, maybe three, full months. And, for me, it was one of the worst experiences. Ever. Some other people might think the exact opposite about distant learning. But for me it was bad. I used to sleep in the morning and wake up around 6-7 at the evening. I never go out. And I gained 10 kilos. Wow. (No worries, I lost them now.)

So, as obvious as it is, I dropped out.

I knew that there was something better for me.

And I stayed collegeless till the end of the year.

That's a whole year without actually getting into a proper college.

After that one year comes the third semester, the semester that I applied at the University of Kuwait. They actually told me that I was 100% accepted at their university (Because I got a good GPA—for them—. And my mom is Kuwaiti.). They just needed to finish the paper work and approve of my high-school certificate (Because I'm a Saudi girl applying at a Kuwaiti University.) Anyway, you'll never guess what happened..My certificate—my original certificate, mind you.—got lost. How? GOD KNOWS. But, with a miracle, we found it. Right after the admission system was closed.. Yeah.. The true definition of Kheera (Allah always knows what is best for you.)

So that was my third semester 'collegeless', at home.

After that I tried applying at the University of Bahrain.. But then..

THEN..I got accepted into the University of Dammam - College of Applied Studies and Community Service. (The college I'm studying at right now.)
And let me tell you something about getting accepted after staying at home for a YEAR AND HALF: I cried. I literally cried when I got accepted. Even if it wasn't something I had my mind set on.

I got into a college I knew absolutely nothing about.
I knew absolutely nothing about the majors there.
I had no idea what I wanted to major.
But then my dad told me about that MIS major.
And I started thinking about that..

MIS.

Management. Information. Systems.

It was enough for me that it was about computers. In a computer. For a computer. Just something that takes place in a computer or a laptop.

Yeah.. I had my mind set on THAT.
And I thought, "I'll be getting into it in sha'a Allah."
"That's my major."

Let me tell you one thing about our college; we have two prep years. Not one.

So all the way through those two years I was anticipating the time that I would major in MIS.

The time came. But I wasn't accepted in my most desired major.

Instead, I got accepted in my most dreaded one; Accounting. (No offense Accounting lovers.)

After spending two-miserable-weeks in that dreadful major, they transferred me—among others—into Business Administration.
Which was a thousand times better.
But it wasn't MIS.

I studied a whole semester there, intending to transfer and become and MIS student. All the (women) staff in the admission administration were NOT supportive. At all. They even told me that I would never get accepted into that major..blah blah blah. Whatever.

Nevertheless, last summer, summer of 2014, I submitted my 'Major Transfer Application' online. Feeling so sad about not being accepted already. Without actually getting the news of whether I'm accepted or not. And I was an absolute pessimist about it..

Anyway, at the end of the summer I got an e-mail from the dean, (it was a group e-mail), saying that "..people who wanted to transfer majors need to check the system to see if they got accepted or not. And that, if they got accepted, they need to approve of the major they chose.."

*whispers*
I approved.

Because, for the third time, guess what?
I. GOT. ACCEPTED.

*WHAT!!!!*

I don't think I have ever felt as proud of myself as I felt that day.
It was one of the happiest days of my life.
Specially after going through so much just to figure out what I really wanted. To figure out what I can do best.

Too many people have told me that I can never do it.
That I will never be accepted.
That I just need to accept the fact that I won't be successful in it even if I got accepted.
People have told me that I will fail.
People told me that I'm unsuitable for it.
They told me that this major is so hard I won't be able to go through with it.

I can't even begin to tell you all the other horrible words that I got.

But I can tell you this, I. AM. PROVING. THM. ALL. WRONG.

And more than that, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't, firstly for Allah, then for all the people that have motivated me and told me that I CAN DO IT and told me to 'GO FOR IT'!

Right now, after spending two months studying in this major, I am at my happiest.
This major is a source of happiness to me.
This major, after Allah the almighty, is my safe haven. My sanctuary.

It does not mean that I'm getting perfect grades or anything, because I'm actually not. It just means that I am studying something that I want to study. Not something just to get by with.

All my high-school friends, are graduated.
And I am happy for them.
I don't feel bad for not graduating yet.
You know why? Because I am getting to know something I love.

This major is a door opening for me.
It's not just some words to memorize, or grades to get.
It's something to LEARN.

You know the saying "Do something you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."? Well, I never understood it. Until MIS.

I told my dad a few weeks back that; after majoring I feel like I'm in a whole new and different place. I walk into college everyday feeling like it's a different college. Not the one I studied at for the past two and a half years.

Let me tell you something about myself;
I am not the studying type of person.
I loath studying.
Sometimes, I go to exams without actually studying. I just read the course and go and take the exam. (And end up having the worst grade in history..But never mind that..)

Right now, studying feels better.
It's like I want to get to know my subjects instead of just memorizing them for grades.

Right now, I feel better. I feel more complacent. And I thank Allah everyday for getting accepted.

* * * * * *

I am writing this to motivate every single person that needs motivation.About anything. Not just college/studying.

But I am mainly writing this for me.

To remind myself that the obstacles/difficulties in the way are there just for a better result.

Writing it down makes me actually FEEL the accomplishments that I have made.

Writing it down makes me hang on tighter to it.

To my determination.

It makes me hold on to never giving up.

And I will be reading this and re-reading it every single time I get a spark of doubt.

I hope you'd do the same.
I hope you never give up! (on anything)

Always remember:

"Do something you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Be Happy!

My happy place, literally!

Aramco Recreation Library.

This place, is one of my absolute favorite places. Ever.

Yes, I am serious. I love it that much.

I was reunited with lots of my childhood/school friends there. I met some amazing people there. And I met one of my very best friends there, too.

I go to this libray to study a lot.

You know what is the best thing about studying there? It's the people that study there,too.

It makes me feel like I am not alone.

Seeing them.

Studying. By themselves, in pairs or even groups.

It feels like a unit.

It makes me feel so good to go there.

Even if I wasn't going to study.

Sometimes, I volunteer to read the story. Some other times I volunteer to arrange the shelves.

Both make me feel the "okayness" that I so often need to feel.

There, I can be myself. I can be the self I want to be.

It makes me feel like I'm away from everything. Yet, in the center of of it all.

* * * * * *

Yesterday, I went to the library to finish some homeworks.

I'm in the library today. And I'll be going tomorrow since it's finally time for midterms (and the endless amount of homeworks :p)

It felt so very nice to be there. Especially after a long time of not going.

Beside how good it makes me feel to be there, I actually accomplish so much more while I'm in the library.

* * * * * *

When you take a photo of something, it means that you love the memory that is occurring at the moment. And you want to keep it.

I found so many photos for the past year or so. All taken inside the library.

* * *

Amongst those photos that I have found, I found my other favorite place;

The beautiful scenerey of the park right in front of the library.

Everyday I go to the library and pass by this place or just sit outside, it just looks perfect.

Just. Perfect.

A sight for sour eyes.

At least for me it is.

And you know?

There's nothing better than the sight of Aramco's streets and parks in the spring and winter. And when it rains.

Brings me absolute bliss.

And here's something to look forward to: Aramco streets in winter.

* * * * *

Find what makes you happy, no matter how tiny it is, and hang on to it.

Life is short. So, please, hang on to what makes you happy.

P.s. Happiness is found in the simplest of things.

All you need to do is look.

 

Be Happy!

Two Weeks?

I miss blogging..

I don't know about other people, but, for me, I feel so much better when I talk about the good things that happen in my life. No matter how small they are. And I feel a thousand times worse when I talk about the bad things in my life. (No matter how small they are.)

And, in this blog post, I will be talking only about the good things that happened in the previous two weeks that I did not have the time to blog/talk about.

Warning: this blog post could be long. And fun to read. So enjoy it :D

 

* * * * * *

 

1. My baby cousin's (Nimo–aka Muneera–) 2nd birthday!

Her actual birthday is in Sep 24th. But the birthday party was in Sep 26th.

We had loads of fun! I took a lot of photos and videos. But I always postpone making a blog post for it. My bad.

I won't post anything about it here in this post. I'll talk about it in a seperate post later on.

 

* * * * * *

 

2. Tim Hortons!

My brother, Khalid, spent the whole summer taking an English course in Canada.

And he's always telling me that Tim Hortons' French Vanilla Coffee is the best coffee ever, that, I gathered, it's his every morning friend.

We don't have Tim Hortons here. It used to be available only in Dubai of all the Arabian Gulf cities.

It opened a few months back in The Avenues Mall in Kuwait!

So, when Khalid came back from Canada we took a visit to Kuwait and Tim Hortons with it!

And, you guys, it tastes as good as he described it! i wish they would open one here..

 

* * * * * *

 

3. Made a small YouTube video!

It's all in the describtion box under the video. But, I'll give you a summary of why I made this video;

I was supposed to attend this "Effictive Team Work" lecture by Dr. Osama Al-Mulla but I didn't. I was hoping I could take some photos and videos of this lecture to make a video later but I didn't because I didn't attend. So, the one supervising this whole thing gave me all the videos and photos that she took and asked me to make a video. And.. voilà!

 

* * * * * *

 

4. Kuwait

Since the Eid vacation started, we headed to Kuwait. For Eid.

And it takes us from 4-5 hours to get to Kuwait. So, I figured I would start making Nimo's birthday party video on the way there.

I started the video. I almost finished it to be honest.. But, I didn't think that it's as special as it should be. So, I thought about adding some other 'special' things to it.

And let me tell you one thing, I am a very good procrastinator. Yeah..

I still haven't finished the video. *inserts here the widest smile she could muster*

 

* * * * * *

 

5. Eid

I promised myself I won't talk about the things that bother me. So I won't.

The weird thing about this eid is that I have not taken any pictures on the first day of it. Not a single one.

So, I'll talk about the second day of it.

 

 

The first picture in this collage shows the amount of guilt that rested in my stomache that day.

Don't get me wrong. Chocolate is the best thing in the world besides books. But not when it's too much.

One bad thing about Kuwait, is that you go there and you do nothing but EAT! I mean, wth?

 

* * *

 

Loved my outfit that day. It was a casually cute one.

 

* * *

 

This sheep that is standing on grass is not just decoration. *whispers* It has chocolate in it. Kuwait, food, figures..

 

 

 

 

* * * * * *

 

6. ADVENTURE!

The same day as number (5) above, my cousins and I had the funniest adventure. It isn't that big or anything. It was just real fun.

So, the thing is, the 8 of us left the house without deciding where we were actually going. We were literally the blind leading the blind. My cousin just turned 18 and is the one driving. So, you can just imagine how fun it is; 8 girls that have absolutely no idea where to go and are driving around the city. It was literally too crowded to even drive properly.

We drove around the city for TWO HOURS still not deciding what to do and where to go!

At the end, we went to a restaurant called La Marina in Sharq Mall, by the sea.

Anyway, it was the best 4 hours of fun I've had in a very long time.

And at the end of the day, all of us went to my aunt's house for a sleepover. Watched a movie, ate noodles and slept in the living room. On top of each other.

I did not take any photos (or videos) amid those few hourse. I wish I did. But I think I enjoyed my time enough to keep it in a memory without photos.

 

* * * * * *

 

7. Breakfast and A Sea View!

The next day, we woke up (at 11:30 am. By force.) to see this good looking, delicious breakfast!

It was so good. We stayed at the table for one more hour even after finishing breakfast.

 

After that, my aunt promised to take us to this 'secret' place she found a month or so ago.

 

When she took us there, it literally took my breath away. It's very relaxing. And.. nice.

 

I bet it'd be the best place to go to when the weather is a bit cooler.

 

You can actually sit on the sand and look at the entire city. It feels amazing to look at an entire city from afar.

 

It's places like that that make me wish I could just drive there on my own and turn off the engine and enjoy listening to the small whispers of the waves. Just enjoy listening to the silence of it all.

One of the best daydreams I could have.

 

That night, after the delicious breakfast and this wonderful sea view, we went back to SA. To Home❤️

 

* * * * * *

 

8. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES! (and work)

No matter how many TV shows I watch—(and, trust me, I watch A LOT.)—The Vampire Diaries is my number one most favorite TV show. Ever.

I started watching it from the very beginning. Season 1, episode 1. And I never miss an episode.

The first episode of season 6 came out on Oct 2nd. But I could't watch it. 'Cause we were in Kuwait. And the internet there is too horrible to even think about watching/downloading anything.

As soon as we came back, I went straight to my laptop. But, I had to finish somethings for mom. So, I chose to multi-task. Thank God for multi-tasking!

I was a very good episode. I cannot wait for this season to unravel!

Yeah, one more thing, I was actually watching the new episode and working on my baby sister's bed. I needed the charger. Good thing I could fit. Haha!

* * * * * *

9. 'عِدّةُ الصابرين و ذَخيرةُ الشاكرين'

I have wanted to read this book for ages!

This book is so, very important to me. I have goals set for/with this book.

But I always have something stopping me from reading it.

Nonetheless, I started reading it a couple of days ago. And I can tell it's going to make a huge difference in my life!

* * * * * *

10. Yesterday;

1) I think that 'The Lion King' is the favorite movie for 99.9% of the people to have walked this earth.

I spent my day yesterday watching it with my baby sister, Nourah.

And even though I literally know the movie word by word, I laughed and had all those feeling throughout the movie like it's the first time I ever watch it.

2) My sister and I found my youngest brother, Abdullah, washing the roof of the villa's annex!

It looked so good from my parents' window that I simply HAD to capture it!

* * * * * *

Those two weeks were one of the busiest weeks.

If you have actually read this entire blog post, then congratulations! You are officially my most favorite person on this earth and I love you! I wish I was joking. 'Cause I'm not.

* *

I believe with all my heart in this saying:

"Happiness is the result of being too busy to be miserable."

Get busy.

And don't you ever take the little things for granted!

Be Happy!