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

The Weather Is Calling!

The weather's great, don't you think?

It's great enough for Mrs. Noor to decide that we won't be taking a lecture on Tuesday morning, and that we'll be taking a 'picnic' instead.

How cool is that!

It was two days ago; Tuesday, December 2nd.

We feared that it might rain or something, but the sky was absolutely clear.

The supposed lecture was at 8:00 AM so, lucky for us, the sun wasn't too hot.

All my classmates has brought something with them. And, not so surprisingly, the vast majority of the class has brought food. Figures.. (It is a picnic after all.)

Tea with Habaq!

Let me tell you something about the 'Habaq' tea;
It is a plant that looks (and, in my opinion, smells) like mint.

But it's not mint.

I never knew that until that day.

I can't even tell you how much they–they as in 4 or 5 girls at the same time–scolded me that day for not knowing what it was😂!

I really had to include that little anecdote in here!

We had a few card games, UNO, Scrabble and Mind Stretchers.

We were a lot. So the only two games that fitted our number were the card games and UNO.

I really wish I could've brought my camera so I can document the whole thing more beautifully and take more pictures to be fair to the amount of fun we had in our little picnic. But, unfortunately, college doesn't allow cameras inside campus..

Nonetheless, I took videos and photos from my mobile and they were enough!

Besides, I really, really, really miss making videos.. A lot.

So, that was a very good reason to make one!

We chatted, we ate, we played those card games, we even danced the short southern Saudi dance.. A little.

And we did all that, literally, in less than 90 minutes!

Morse so, that picnic actually made us get to know one another a little bit more.

'Cause when we're together, we always talk about college-related subjects. So, that day was a good day to be friends. Not just classmates.

Sometimes when you're doing something you really love, but always at the same pace, you'll end up either hating it or slacking off and away from it.

I really love college. But going everyday to the same classes and doing the same exact things could make me feel a bit sluggish towards it.

That day was exactly what I needed. (Along with all the Med students campaigns/field training that happens to be in our college–which I'll be talking about in a separate blog-post later in sha'a Allah)

Thank you Mrs. Noor! You have literally made our day that day.

It was great. And very, very freshening! ❤️

* * * * *

Here's a good advice:

Break the routine.

Because, “The less of routine, the more of life.”

Blog: "So, What Did I Miss?"

     Dear Blog,

I miss it here. A lot has happened in the past few days. I've been wanting to write everything day by day and blog-post by blog-post. But, unfortunately, I have a very bad time management skills.. Yeah..

Annnnyway, I'm just happy about last week and don't want the time to pass without talking about it.

So, let's get into it!

***

First, on Tuesday, November 18th:

College always has a two-hours break on Tuesdays for college activities and stuff.

That day there was this 'lecture' called "A+" by a club called Yamam. I saw the posters in college and all the announcements on twitter and thought "I really need to attend that thing!"

So, I saved the date on my calendar and when the day came I attended the lecture with one of my good classmates.

It was REALLY amazing!

I can't even begin to tell you about all the motivational speeches that have been said that day!

I wanted to talk about it in a separate blog post so I can talk about it in Arabic and more thoroughly. I wanted to talk about all the women that have talked and shared their stories that day. But, as I said. Poor. Time. Management. 

That's a lesson to learn; MANAGE YOUR TIME, LULWAH!

One of the first lecturers/speakers that talked that day was an MIS graduate from our own college!

She said something observational about studying well and getting good grades. She said that;

“People that get good grades are the ones that do things beside studying. Because the busiest people are the ones that need to know how to manage their time and get a lot of things done. On the other hand, people who have nothing tend to be very good procrastinators. Always leaving stuff for the last minute.”

This was so obvious yet I was so oblivious to it..

They talked about so many beautifully motivational things.

At the end of the lecture, when I was leaving, they gave me a very beautiful and well organised agenda!

And I am so, very proud of them. I am proud of Yamam Club specifically for rising all the way here. And having all these different ideas. But mostly, I'm proud of the college's progress.

***

The next day, Wednesday, November 19th, was fun.

 It's the best day of the week.
Wanna know why?
*whispers* Because Thursday is an off day.
Woo-hoo!

But that specific Wednesday was more special. Because, first:
The last lecture that day we had a lecture. But we didn't take an actual lecture.

Guess what we did instead?
Mrs. Noor decided we will play a game instead!
Yeah, we played a game.
And it. was. fun!

I don't know what's the name of the game, but, let's call it the 'No Words' game.

I will explain it as I originally know it:
There should be two teams and a judge. The judge chooses a word and one of the team's members–the one that will act it out it to their team–is the only one allowed to know it. Then he/she stands in front of their team and start acting it out and the rest of the team members need to guess it out before the timer ends!

Yeah, I guess you can picture the actual FUN of the whole thing...
We were laughing so hard all the way through the game!

P.s. I was on the winning team *does the happy dance*

Thank you, Mrs. Noor.

Thank you for being you and thank you for giving us this blissfulness of a lecture!

*

And then later that day, I met with a girl that I have become very good friends with, Doaa!

She is already too sweet to start with. And then she went right ahead and bought me those two delicious looking books!!! Yeah, too sweet..

The first one is 'Not That Kind of Girl' by Lena Dunham
And the second is called 'I Am Malala' by Malala Yousafzai

She recommended me 'I Am Malala' once and I was planning on buying it but I didn't find it anywhere in our bookstores. And when she knew that I didn't buy it, she bought it for me.

Again, TOO SWEET!!!

The second one, she claims that is a good one and I honestly think that it will be!

Cannot wait to start reading them!

Thank you so much, Doaa. Love you!❤️

***

The next few days were pouring rain.

They were perfect days.

Just wanted to include that in here..

That day, Sunday, November 23rd, I was in Aramco Library, studying for an exam, when the rain started pouring suddenly.

Yes, I did stop studying in case you were wondering.

Every rain drop was calling my name softly to go outside!

*Lulwah Lulwah Lulwah..*

***

Tuesday, November 25th:

I didn't sleep well on Sunday. So that left a very weak-minded Lulu on Monday..

Which lead me to forgetting that the next day, Tuesday, my classes start at 8 NOT 9:30. 

To make a long story short? I woke up late. Very late. And missed my first class.

But because we have our good hearted teacher, Noor,  it was okay. She just laughed about it and gave me a ticket for the class. Yes, a ticket.

And it was so sweet!

There was a quote on the ticket that, to my astonishment, was exactly what I needed.

A very good advice for a better time management!

It said:

[ “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” –Pablo Picasso

Everyday, I devote my attention to the things that are actually important! ]

I actually have this paper hanged on the board on the wall right in from of my desk!

Thank you for that great idea Mrs. Noor :D

*

I love video making.

And I love my camera. No mater how annoying it gets sometimes..

A few weeks ago I ordered a new lens–specifically for taking videos–online.

On Sunday I got a message that said that my package has arrived! Yay!!!!!

So, on Tuesday, November 25th, I received my package of love and happiness.

I am extremely happy about it!

And I miss making videos. TERRIBLY! :(

So, I cannot wait to get to know it and be friends with it.

Hello, Lens :D

 * * *

So, Dear Blog, that is the end of my slightly beautifully eventful week.
I enjoyed this week a lot!

I will summarise what I have learned in that week;

I have learned that:

If you want to be better, be better.

Going to lectures and listening to different stories actually help with a lot of things. And are NEVER a waste of time.

I have learned that people, CAN change.

And last but definitely not least, NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE and you will feel more and more complacent everyday.

* * *

 Count your blessings people!

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!

What do you mean 'they're out of stock'!

I was waiting till the end of the week to get all the requested books for college so I can buy them all together.

I wanted to go to Jarir Bookstore—the corniche branch—because (I think) it's the biggest bookstore in Khobar.

I even went to their website to see when do they first open in the morning so I can take my time looking for books without having to be in the middle of the crowd.

Anyway, what happened is that today, saturday morning, 9:00 AM to be specific, I went to that “big” bookstore.

I grabbed the big basket because I was so sure I'll be finding all the books I needed for college..

Haha!

Look what happened;

I gave the guy from the customer service my list of books and when he looked at the list he literally goes: “No, no, no... Umm, no. I'm sorry Ma'am, all the books are out of stock.” And I was like ”what? What do you mean out of stock? ALL of them? Seriously?”

I laughed at how weird it is. Why would all the fundamentals for computer systems be out of stock! :\

 

 

And what happens when you're in a bookstore and you don't find what you came for?

Of course, you buy pretty things that you don't actually need.

 

(I bought 1. A very pretty leathered cover notbook. And 2. A book called الطريق إلى النجاح - للكاتب الدكتور/إبراهيم الفقي. “The Way to Success - By Dr. Ibrahim Elfiky”)

 

 

 

After all that I went to another branch for the Jarir Bookstore, AlObekan and Virgin Megastore because I needed those books.

Guess what? Ironically so, all the books are out of stock everywhere!

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