Yay! I finally graduated! - Well, I kind of was a graduate when I finished uni in May :P but the official ceremony was last week and everything was just perfect..

A new chapter of your life begins as you enter the university campus in awe.. You start thinking to yourself and wondering how you'll manage to prove yourself in classes full of strangers and whether you'll be able to familiarize yourself with your surroundings and make friends - you start scaring yourself before you even start! However, once you actually start attending classes and getting to know the people, you realize how your fears and concerns shouldn't have been there in the first place; slowly you'll grow to like the major you have chosen and become more confident, and whether you liked it or not, you'll make a group of friends that you'll hang out with whenever you're free.

In the previous blogposts, I have spoken about choosing your major and university, however, in this blogpost, I shall hopefully help you, beautiful people, to meet the right type of people and make the right type of friendships as who you will meet in university will be of every type and background, of good and bad qualities and intentions..

First, be welcoming and pleasant.. Introduce yourself to the student sitting next to you or the one that attends many of your classes so you'd have something in common to talk about and start a conversation; slowly, you will make friends with everyone in your classroom and be able to tell apart hard-working students from lazy ones and who you should stay friends with and who you shouldn't.

However, keep in mind that not everyone around you may be as welcoming as you, and they either need time to familiarize themselves with their surroundings or are very introverted. Personally, on my first day of university I met a girl and started talking to her. but she was so quiet that I thought she didn't like me or didn't want to make friends at all! Sure enough, she started opening up and we became very good friends.

Second, make friends with those that will benefit you as you will benefit them. Such friends will be willing to help you whenever you're unsure about something or you needed help, and you in return will help them whenever they may need your help.. Such friends were very important to me in my studio and drawing courses; my friends and I would lend each other an pen, an eraser... but most importantly, an opinion. Hearing different points of view really helps in polishing your ideas, and hearing them from those that share your same set of rules but different imagination is absolutely wonderful!

Third, assume the best about people, but beware of the worst. The people you will encounter on a daily basis are from different natures and personalities; some are nice, while others are mean.. Some are selfless, while others are needy and greedy... etc.
Therefore, try to be as nice as you can to everyone and offer your help as long as it doesn't become a standard or unappreciated by the other, and hold yourself from becoming too attached fast as it may hurt you.

Fourth, have your limits and learn to say no.. Don't get carried away helping people who are unappreciative, but also don't be too greedy to offer any help. Don't count too much on people and depend mostly on yourself because if you're too dependent, people will get sick eventually and probably start avoiding you or making excuses to helping you! Which is a feeling I personally have personally developed towards a friend of mine, and it hurts to think that I wouldn't offer her help or even sit around and talk to her, but I just can't! ><'

Last but not least.. Most importantly.. BE YOURSELF. I don't really have any explanation to this as it is self-explanatory, but always keep that in mind as start applying that from day one ;)

Also, a very important word to put out there is that friends make your days at uni much happier and easier, and I'm saying that because not everyone is actually willing to put themselves out there and make new friends.. Sure, your old friends mean everything to you but it doesn't always happen that you're all together at the same place and time. They might be in a different university in your country or even abroad! So don't limit yourself to having only them, but meet new people, and enjoy everyday as if it's your last day, as well as staying in touch with your old peeps. Be ready to take chances and explore, make new memories with new people and be kind to everyone around you <3

Salam! I'm back with another University Series part; WHERE to study for university?
In case you've missed the first part about WHAT to study, check it out here, but for now, i'll leave you with this hopefully not as long blogpost - hope you benefit from what you read!

Whenever you ask someone about university, they tell you that it's a whole new life that you get to experience and live for at least three years, and where you study  totally plays an important role in this experience. In fact, what actually matters about a university is its academic performance, status, atmosphere, location and fees - and unless you choose wisely and subjectively, you might regret your choices later on and enter the storm of changing university, which can either be easy or become a mess!

After choosing what major you want to study, look for the universities that teach it and are convenient for you and list them all down - gradually you will start to cross down the least convenient ones and hopefully you'll reach you conclusion easily. A university being convenient for you means that it offers your choice of major with high standards, yet is still reasonable money-wise and location-wise, as choosing the best university that offers your program would be a great addition to your CV later on, but may cause you many hardships in registering, paying, and even living.
Look for universities that also offer good discounts or scholarships that apply to you, and consider the opportunity of living in dorms or transportation wisely.

After looking and listing, start collecting data and reviews from students who attended this or that university or were considering your options. Call campuses,ask and even visit! Ask about facilities, recognition, fees, transportation.... and every single question that pops into yours - and your parents' - mind! What students may tell you will also play a big role in making the decision, as they probably considered your same options and decided, or experienced some of your options and so they have positive or negative feedback. However, don't take everything bad you hear from them negatively nor every good thing positively - what you find unbearable might be okay with them, and what they find very bad may not even matter to you, so be wise and reasonable.

A very important factor to your decision would be your confidence in your abilities and what you can do:
- Think about whether you'll be able to live in a dorm room, alone or with friends or even strangers
- Consider whether you'll be able to handle the pressure of transportation, for example, or tight schedules as not all universities offer the same system: some universities would allow students to create their own schedules, whereas other universities would give their students an already planned schedule.
- Balance between the pros and con of every option personally, and with the help of others..
- Be realistic, especially when you're considering travelling or studying in your country.

An important thing to keep in mind is that having your friends with you in university might be a good thing - you should, however, keep in mind that even though  you're in the same campus, you might net even meet or see each other very often according to each's major and schedule, so do not limit yourself to where your friends are.. you will get busy, have different time schedules, meet new people...etc.

My final tip to you would be to seek the answer from Allah.. I have mentioned the same thing in the last Uni blogpost but I'm re-mentioning it here because after all, without His guidance, where would we be? ;)

Hope you find the information here helpful and if you have anything more to add, feel free to type it all doooown! ☟☟☟☟☟

Assalamulaikom lovelies and welcome to the first part of my University Series! I decided to start this 4-part series to talk to you guys about university; what, where, and how to study and how to survive university life by reflecting upon my personal experience and thoughts ^.^

For this part, we'll be discussing the topic of choosing the major... Hopefully, you'll find this blogpost very helpful in making up your mind and deciding what you really want to do and study through the few steps i'll be listing below, but first, I might as well start by talking about my background of this topic in case you guys would relate...
I also would like to say that i'm not a psychologist or anything - I'm just an 18 year-old who has been through what some of you might be going through right now and so I have so much to talk about regarding this topic.


So once upon a time, I have decided to become a dentist. I don't know if I was influenced  I have already decided where I want to study that major and with whom i'll be staying in the dorm room - My dad and I even visited that university and paid the early tuition fees, and I was so thrilled - until I started recalculating in my mind, and so I started to ask and add everything up in my mind until I slowly started to believe that I am not capable of studying for 6+ years, nor was I willing to do so. I also considered the job market and how easy or difficult it would be for me to find a job in the future and I decided that I wasn't up for it.
I didn't 'chicken' out nor was I willing to throw my dream away, I was just being realistic, and that would be my first tip to you: dream big, but also be realistic about what you want and don't let the glitter of that dream blind you from recognizing the possible from the impossible.
Anyway, back to my story; so you might as well ask about what I am currently studying? Did I end up following my dream or did I throw it behind?
Well, I simply made a new one to look up to. I decided to study interior design and am determined to be successful at that, inshallah. But I didn't decide to study this major all of a sudden, in fact, I felt so lost after deciding to not follow my dentistry dream and there came sleepless nights and endless proper talks with my parents and family! Eventually, I made a plan which I followed carefully to make up my mind and be convinced about the result because after all, what's the use of studying something I'm not even convinced with.
The plan I made consisted of a few steps: LIST, LOOK UP, BALANCE, PRIORITIZE, and ASK, and I will be taking you through each step briefly.




☞ LIST: To list means to write down and count, and in this step, you'll be listing two things: who you are (qualifications, how others see you, how you see yourself, characteristics...) & your preferences (what subjects you like and hate in school, your hobbies...). Be honest when describing yourself as this is a very good way to know your strength points and weaknesses.
 I wrote down both lists for you guys to see in this gif:


☞ BALANCE: After searching for all the options that match what you've listed, you need to balance each option by writing down its pros and cons. By doing that, you're actually giving yourself reasonable reasons as to why this major/job is good/bad for you instead of refusing or accepting the idea blindly... You then have to eliminate the options that have more cons than pros :)
While listing the pros and cons, you can write down that you really want this option but you have to be realistic and honest in writing why you want it so badly.

☞ PRIORITIZE: You should now be left with fewer options, much fewer even! So it's time to put them in order based on how much that option appeals to you, how many pros it has...etc. and try to come up with maximum five ranks so you'd have less options to keep thinking about.
☞ ASK: All what you have to do now is ask about your results. Ask God for guidance, your parents for their thoughts and concerns, people who are studying the majors you came up with or relate very closely to ones who do, and most importantly ask yourself...
Finally, I would just like to give you a few more tips that inshallah you'll find very helpful:
❀ Be confident about your choices and even stubborn sometimes! But don't let that stop you from listening to others and their thoughts and concerns.
❀ Always have a plan B, C, D even Z for you never know what might happen.
❀ Getting the highest percentage in school shouldn't be for showing off, nor should you be upset about not getting the percentage you wanted so badly. Focus on getting the percentage that will allow you to enter the major you want as well as the other ones in your backup plans, for when you enter university everyone - including yourself - would forget about percentages and focus on GPAs!
❀ Unless you are truly convinced of your decision, don't take a further step towards it. Yes, you can switch your major in university after you've started, but why should you waste money and at least a year of your life? ;)