“We were driving home. I was sitting in the back left seat of the car. Absentmindedly, I was listening to the coversation my mom was having with a family friend. She was also in the car with us, right next to me.

I don’t even remember what it was about. But the car in the right lane, slightly in front of us, caught my eye. It was night time but for some reason the driver just caught my attention. He had blond hair, and kept on running his hand through his hair aggressively. As we slowly passed him I watched as he kept wiping his face, switching arms while driving and then running his hand through his hair again.

He looked extremely stressed out. So stressed out that it seemed like something terrible just happened or was about to happen. And I couldn’t help but watch him as our car drove by. He even caught the attention of my family friend who paused in the middle of her conversation as she glanced at him.

It just got me thinking. About what he might be going through and the weird thing is, it felt like such a common sight. With the recession and everything going on, from commercials to people we know, those actions showing frustration have become a common almost like symbol.
A symbol of the times the world is going through, families are going through, what our economy was going through.

We all know that’s how people express frustration but I feel as though it’s become something common in most households. Or at least in many households.

The first thing that popped into my head while watching him was that he probably lost his job. I just felt bad for this random guy driving his car looking as though he had no idea what to do. Couple minutes later I had forgotten about him and went on thinking about my own problems.

And he might have gone on to screaming in his car or driving to his friend’s house or tried avoiding the problem. Or he might have gone on and started crying or even gotten into an accident.(insh’Allah not)

I’ll never find out.

I guess there really isn’t a point to this post. But thinking back the experience did make me feel insignificant.
To somebody else I’m that guy with the blond hair stressing about my problems and wishing the world would stop and help.
Okay so instead of blond hair I have a scarf. And I’m a girl…despite screaming and sneezing like a guy.

But do you get what I mean?

In those 30 seconds I saw into a stranger’s life. I didn’t see much but it didn’t seem much different from mine. I don’t know how his story will end and most of you out there will never know how my story ends.

We’ve all got our own stories to worry about.
But there’s 6.7 billion other stories going on at the same time. Some starting and others ending.

While I feel insignificant and even feel bad for those that need help but can’t find any, it feels good to know that each of these stories is at least significant to God. Because they are.”

So I came across this video of  the Today’s show.

It’s a video of speed dating hosted by a company called Pocket Change.

Watching the video I went from curiosity, to mild amusement, to annoyance.

They’re basically matching rich guys with beautiful women.

…..And apparently it’s a successful concept and not shallow at all. I mean I get how you can argue it’s not about being shallow. I promise, I do…..I think.

But isn’t the point of dating to find someone you love? Not just to play around?

I don’t date…so I don’t really get it.

I think what bothers me is that it has this whole ‘for money get a hot lady’ theme going on.  Not saying it’s prostitution or anything, so don’t get me wrong but along with the CLEAR differences between the two concepts there were some smaller similarities that kinda rang a bell.

And more than that what bothered me the most is that they screened the applicants SOLELY based on looks and money.

AND THAT’S IT?
REALLY?

Forget that the world has psychos… idiots…creepy stalkers…jerks….and just overall nasty personalities with issues.

I mean, why is that a big deal?

It’s a way to meet someone amazing. So amazing. Like it could be a guy working for the mafia. Every girl’s dream.

And who gets to decide if YOU are beautiful enough?

Are you joking with me?

I am not even going to point out what’s wrong with that concept.

And did you notice how they say in the video that nothing about love is mentioned at all?

Once again, I don’t date, but don’t you date to MARRY SOMEONE?

OR at least it used to be. Did something change???

I’m glad msnbc did a video on them. These people are idiots.

Ever notice a trend in semesters?

Like if you’re having the hardest semester of your life, for some reason so is everyone else?

Or both you and you’re friends are having a semester in which you just seem to have a lot of ‘chilling’ time.

Or those semesters where it seems like everyone is taking evening classes.

It’s kinda weird but I’ve definitely noticed some randomn trends when it comes to students and their college semesters.

Okay you don’t need to sit there and point out why I’m wrong.

There’s exceptions everywhere.

Point being I feel like this is the semester of papers. Everywhere I ask, people are working on papers. Whether its for classes, applications, or for graduation.

Papers, papers, everywhere.

Something something something.

I had a much better song in my head somewhere.

Moving on.

Has anyone tried getting a swine flu shot?

All HIN1 vaccines seem to be running out fast. I’ve been calling places to see if they offer the vaccine. We’re concerned about my mom. But it seems like everywhere I call is basically out. There’s a frenzy going on for the vaccine. I have a friend who works at a clinic and apparently the only thing she’s hearing is H1n1.

The Oakland County Health department offers some time to time at places like the Palace Of Auburn Hills. But you have to keep checking.

This is the site for any interested Oakland county residents: http://www.oakgov.com/health/info_pub/main_flu_info.html

Wayne County seems to be doing a bit better. But obviously I wouldn’t know best.  For those of you interested, free vaccinations are being offered for Wayne residents,

Locations and mass clinics schedule http://www.waynecounty.com/mygovt/hhs/publichealth/docs/H1N1%20Clinic%20Schedule.pdf

There’s a limited supply of vaccinations available nationwide. The Center for Disease Control has identified a target population. Such as pregnant women, caregivers for children under 6 months of age, people from the ages of 6 months to 24 years, people from 24-64 with health conditions and EMS and health care workers.

I do recommend people who are at a risk to go and get the vaccine.

Before it really does run out.

Life is full of questions and doubts.

And we all reach points in our life where we have no idea why we feel so lonely all of a sudden, or why it seems like nothing is working out or even what decision we need to make.

Sometimes it seems like world the is working against you. But it really isn’t.

Life sometimes holds a series of mistakes or fails for you.

Sometimes you get dizzy with everything going around you. And sometimes you’re quietly screaming and other times you’re silently begging.

It’s easy to be brought down in times like these. It’s easy to become afraid because you think you’re going to fail.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not painful.

It’s hard to keep an optimistic outlook at times like these. It’s hard to keep fighting.

Or at least it is for most of us.

But does anyone realize how much easier everything is when there is just one thing supporting you? Some of us are blessed enough to have an entire family and good friends and even a pet cat supporting us.

For others, faith alone is enough to keep them going.

I wonder what separates those who do eventually give up from those who keep moving forward even if they seem almost dead.

I’m not an optimist. But I’m not really a pessimist.

I’m more like a fighter. Who loves the fights, but loves complaining all the same. I feel like my life is sometimes a series of mistakes. And sometimes, I get terrified because I feel helpless. And I hate feeling helpless. And I start feeling lonely, because I don’t know if there is anyone who understands my feelings.

But when I’m down, I pick myself up. And I don’t know if anyone can pick me up as well I can for myself.  Because I know, that my life’s stresses are not that bad. It doesn’t take much to convince myself that others have bigger problems and that I’m acting dramatic.

Don’t worry I’m not emo.
I secretly love life.

I love water. I love food. I love having a good time. I love realizing when I succeed in something. I love feeling independent.

Sometimes, I don’t understand how people can be so down and depressed all the time. For me it takes something as simple as watching a flock of birds to make me smile and feel happy again.

I make it a habit to look at the sky everytime I step out at night. And then become enveloped with the beauty of the sky.

I like acting like an idiot, just to make people laugh.

I like walking by myself at Wayne State’s campus at night.

I like believing I can make a difference.

I believe that everything I experience or see is important to learning to become a better person.

And if I need help I’ll ask for it. Just a call away. A friend. A cousin. My mom. Or a room away. My cat.

You might believe that it’s easy for someone to speak of being happy because they are not going through what you are going though.

And I agree.

I only have a small idea of the pain people are going through. But I think it must be so much harder to not see the things around you that make you happy.

I like to make myself believe that God has something special for me.

For those of us, living here in America, safe, going to college or school or work or whatever, life is never as bad as we make it seem.

It’s hard at times. Whether it be something like an exam or watching your parent become more sick every day.

Go ahead, feel sad or overwhelmed. But don’t get caught in that downward spiral.

It’s even sadder if you’re missing all the great things around you.

I feel like I lost a really good friend.

Every time I finish reading a book that I’ve become attached to, those are the initials words/thoughts that come to mind.

It wasn’t any different this time.

Well maybe it was. I haven’t read a good book for a long while. I read three this entire summer compared to times when I was able to finish three in a week. Nothing has been appealing and I just havent been into books.

But Sophie Kinsella never fails to disappoint.

I just finished reading, Twenties Girl

by the renowned author of the Shopaholic series.

I love her books so much. They always always make me laugh.

Sadie just died at the age of 105 and is now haunting her great niece Lara to help her find a necklace that holds sentimental value of some sort. Sadie comes back not as the 105 year old version of herself but a 23 year old version. And her and Lara bicker like long time best friends. While searching for this necklace of Sadies’, they both learn about each others lives and help each other see the bigger picture and that the grass is truly greener on the other side.

It’s a hilariously written book, and really, I dont do it justice with my synopsis.

Sorry.

So why did I cry?

I’m not some sap who cries over books and movies. Other things, yes, but not those things. And this wasnt even supposed to be a sad book. It’s rated comedic.

However it just seemed to hit a nerve and I thought of all my relationships. Past and present. With friends and family. Grandparents.Mom. Dad. Sisters. Brother. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Best friend. Close friends. Good friends. Acquaintances.

Feeling guilty. Sad. Mad. Annoyed. Happy. Lucky. Confused. Jealous.

All of it.

So many thoughts and emotions all at once, I couldnt help but get misty eyed.

The bottom line is that this book teaches you that family can be friends. And that friends can turn into family {whether or NOT you sing and/or dance with them!}

As cliched and sappy as it may sound, I loved this book and think you all should go read it so I have somebody to talk to about it.

P.S. I’m sooooo excited to read her other book Remember Me?

There was a post that I promised to do a real long time ago. It more or less pertains to the south asian population on our campus.

But before that, just the other day I head on the news station that Michigan’s top three research institutions (U of M, MSU, and Wayne State) all had an enrollment increase this fall despite the recession Michigan is going through.  We saw an increase of 2.5%. And apparently tuition at Wayne State remains the lowest of Michigan’s 15 public universities.

Kinda cool, right?

Ok now back to topic.

So as some of you know, Wayne State has a REALLY diverse student population. Like super diverse. At least coming from suburbia it was a bit of a culture shock for me. But its diversity is one of the reasons why I tell so many kids to go to Wayne.

Well today I’m going to talk a little about Wayne State and my interaction with some of its south asian population (I think I already mentioned that..but anywhosie)

By the way, if you don’t know what a South Asian is, go check out a map.

So one day I’m walking over to my nutrition research lab,  while smelling like onions. Like an incredibly  STRONG, sickly smell of fresh cut onions.  So of course I’m going to be keeping a five foot distance from everyone. The reason why I smell like that is besides the fact for now. You’re curious? Too bad.

And of course while I’m trying to avoid people I keep running into Muslim girls that I know. And for an undiscovered reason Muslim girls like to hug each other EVERY TIME we run into each other. YES EVERY TIME.

No, No. No hugging for me.

So I stop awkwardly a good five feet away, smile and do this weird shuffle around them while they are staring at me and wondering what’s wrong. I probably scared all the girls that day into thinking that they are the ones that smelled.

And that’s when I heard it. That familiar crack of a bat hitting a ball and the guys yelling.

It was…….

End of part 1

HELLO.

I owe this blog an update about my life.

I have been doing applications. College applications. Applications that require essays. Applications that require things I rather just not do. Applications that are giving me headaches, bang my head on the wall fits, and reasons to change my goal in life.

I wanted to runaway.

I got done with two applications when my hands malfunctioned. Well, actually it was my wrists. I seemed to have strained something something because of all my time on the computer.

I can’t type for more than five minutes without being in pain. I cannot turn on the car. I cannot hold heavy-ish things. I cannot exert my thumb. I can’t even write more than a couple sentences with a pencil without screaming out in pain and dropping the pencil.

Basically applications should come with HEALTH DISCLAIMERS.

DO YOU HEAR ME COLLEGE APPLICATIONS?

I should sue somebody.

Sigh.

P.s. Yes. I know the title makes no sense.

Man these kids are amazing!!!!!

And the teacher did such a great job with them!!!!!!!!!! If you watch the videos you’ll see how much the kids get into the songs.

Watch their expressions!!!

You don’ t need to watch the whole thing to appreciate them.

Saturday, September 12 2009, was Day of Dignity in Detroit.

Want to learn more?

Just click here.

The end.

Okay I’m lying. I do have stuff to write about it. Day of Dignity (formerly known as Humanitarian Day) is an annual project headed by Islamic Relief  USA (a charity org).

Several different organizations team up with Islamic Relief to help the underserved population of America.

It happens every year during the month of Ramadan (a month of the Islamic calendar, in which Muslims fast from dawn till dusk).

This year, the event was/will be held in 19 cities including Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Dallas.

During the event in Detroit, free food, hygiene packs, sweatshirts, hats,school supplies, gloves, toys, and even medical checkups was offered to nearly 1000 homeless people (not counting their children).

I was blessed enough to be a part of this amazing event for a third time in Detroit.

It took place at the Muslim Center of Detroit. A masjid (analogous to a church) that holds weekly soup kitchens, and other such beneficial events.

Huda clinic, the organization that provided the free medical checkups, is also located within the Muslim Center of Detroit. It runs every Saturday providing medical care to uninsured individuals through a team of volunteers.

So this year, for the most part, I served as a greeter.

Basically, I said hi, asked questions, and gave people tickets…only if they were nice to me

Everyone kept asking what the tickets where for. And quite honestly I only kinda understood the purpose of them.

1. So we could count how many people attended.

2. So the people at the door knew that they were standing in line

3. So the volunteers in the hall knew how many items to give them.

In conclusion I gave everyone that was there a ticket, even the guy who started yelling at me and my friend because we refused to give him two tickets for his two sons that were not there.

We were following orders, and for a good reason too.

People were like stocking  up and we ended up running out of things.

Anyways so this guy is yelling at us, and we’re all like sorry you can only get a ticket for yourself, but then he walks over to us, and this guy is HUGE, and demands that we walk “over to his car” and check his sons ourselves, but I’m like, “Uh no, they need to be here Sir. If you don’t mind getting them” and he was getting all mad.

I even turned around to see what “security” was doing, you know for backup , just in case,  and the brothers were like talking and laughing to each other, probably about some stupid game.

So in my head I think, Ugh like I really expected guys to be of some use. Growing up with three brothers should have squashed that expectation a long time ago.

I didn’t have time to go into a monologue about it because the guy in front of me was scaring my two friends, which got me angry.

So I took ONE ticket, and I said, “You know what sir, HERE you go. Thank you”

I don’t know why I thanked him.

But he left all grumbling. There was more to the conversation that I didn’t include, like when he started getting the lady next to him to start agreeing with him.

And she was all like, “I Knowwww” to him.

Anywho, it wasn’t all grumpy people. A LOT MORE people thanked us, and many of them yelled out “GOD BLESS YOU”.

I especially loved the people that genuinely asked me how I was doing. They made my day.

It felt good that someone cared about me. Which is kinda what we wanted them to feel. To feel cared for and to feel good and to know that we were willing to take the time out to ask them how they are, whether they want some water, and give them things they could really use. A lot of them smiled as we took pictures. It was really great.

If they felt better, then our mission was accomplished.

There were a couple people that I met that day that I still remember till today, and pray that they are able to escape from the circumstances they are in, especially the children.

At the end of the day, despite running around, giving people water and popcorn, talking to them, keeping the line in check, keeping people patient, asking questions, trying to count as fast as possible, feeling like the rest of the event people forgot about us and chasing after a volunteer that kept disappearing (she felt awkard and claimed that she had no social skills), I was TIRED.

But it was a good tired.

The kind of tired in which you would be willing to go through things all over again.

Which I had to do everytime I saw another bus full of people pull up.

Anyways I didn’t take pictures, but I found some from THIS website.

People getting off the bus

The school bus that kept bringing people and my reaction every time-   :O

A picture of the line me and my volunteer friends were working with. You can see one of my friends with her back to the camera. This is where we did our work. The line was much longer, trust me.

I remember talking to the elder person on the right hand side of the picture. Here they are eating popcorn …Yumm. I wanted some so badly, but we were fasting.

Of course that didn’t stop me and my friends from being idiots, and offering some of the disadvantaged Muslims standing in line, water and popcorn, only to be told that they were fasting. Duh.

I just like this picture  

Some more people that were standing in line with us.

Okaayyy SO the line wasn’t as great as it could have been….Did I mention that I also handed out balloons?? I was like super balloon girl. Almost.

Volunteers that were inside the hall waiting for the people that were standing outside(with us) to come in. You can see that everything and everyone is lined up and ready to go, and I think the line was actually making its way through the hall at this point. You could feel everyone’s excitement and anticipation.

5….4….3….2….1!

BAM!!!!

THE PLACE IS CROWDED!!!!!!!!

People quickly handing out supplies and re-stocking on whatever they finished.

Moving on.

Then came the clinic.

Finally the KIDS’ JUNGLE GYM!!

YAYYY!!!!!!

And that was Day of Dignity (Personally I liked Humanitarian Day better, it was easier on the mouth)

I’m annoyed.

Hello. So annoying.

Anyways, let’s talk about my first day back to campus since the start of the new semester.

I took pictures everywhere. So it’s gonna be like a picture journal. Kinda.

So it was my first day back on campus last week tuesday. And as expected, the place was packed. Parking structures full, confused freshman trying to make turns that they don’t realize are illegal, cars and students everywhere.

I kinda like the feeling, of the start of the new semester, when the campus is in full bloom. But I hate it too. It’s horrible finding parking.

So after driving around in a circle three times, I went to the lot I’ve never parked in before.

The Law School Parking Structure.

And oh my god. I felt like the biggest freshman on campus.

(no offense freshies)

So I’m in my car, following the car in front of me, with no idea on how the structure works.

And in my head, I’m wondering WHY THE EFFINGHAM (read two posts below…it’s the name of a city) is every structure built differently. Why can’t they all be simple, and have one simple way of going up and down???

So people like me don’t look like idiots while driving.

I follow the car to a parking spot, and got out of my car in a hurry, so I could follow the person in front of me.

I didn’t know how to exit and I wasn’t about to waste time aimlessly wandering around.

But lucky me, SOMEHOW I missed the person that came out of the car I was following. And just stood there by my car. AND wandered around for good five minutes looking for the exit stairs.

But YAYY another car!!

OH I can follow that person!!!

I’m casually standing around, waiting for the girl, from the car that just pulled up, to come out.

And of course I don’t look like a creeper while I’m standing there staring at a cement pillar, in a quiet parking lot.

Anywhosie, the girl leaves, and I like jog after her (I’m surprised she didn’t pepper spray me). And lo ! The stairs exit was like in plain sight.

Genius. I. Am.

So I’m following her down the stairs and for some reason stopped to see a funny drawing on the wall.

I don’t know what college student has the time to stand around drawing this. But apparently they did. I don’t get it. Maybe I’ll do a paper analyzing the drawing one day.

After my random pause, I exited from the stairs, only to enter a backyard that looked like some random yard.

I was so confused that I just stood there, wondering where the heck I was.

Let’s summarize. I went down the stairs, and left the structure. The girl left way before me so I have no idea where she went. I don’ t know where I am.

SO I went back up the stairs. And went to the second floor. Got confused again. Went down the stairs again. Opened the door to the outside. Stood there. Then tried going to the left. Then saw it was a dead end.

So I went back in. Went up the stairs (I did a lot of repetition that day) got off the second floor. Went down the car ramp. And took another set of stairs down.

Now I knew where I was.

I will never make fun of freshmen again.

I think it was rainy that day. Not bad though. It was nice enough. I walked through the law school building and the courtyard like area where people were standing around.

I’m almost at my destination when i see some guy (freshman..he was holding a paper that was probably his schedule or his map…psshhh such a freshie) staring at one of those big Wayne State Map thingys.

Aw. poor guy. He’s never going to figure anything out like that.

So I’m staring at the guy while walking by. Stopped. Felt bad for him. And thinking of my role as WSU’s blogger, I walked back over to him.

“Do you need help?”

“Um..Yeah..I’m looking for DeRoy Auditorium”

Woah. Dude is a long way from where he should be

“Um You need to go way back. Do you know where State Hall is yet?”

“Yes”

That sounded like a no.

“Ok well walk back that way to the UGL. And the building on the other side of the courtyard is DeRoy…etc etc”

I came across another guy that day that was also staring at the map. And feeling all cool, I walked up to him asking if he needed help.

Turns out that he was just wasting time.

Whoops.

Rest of the day was pretty fun. Other than Pipeline going down. I have never seen pipeline giving me an error message because of too many users.

The only other problem besides that was when I returned to the parking structure. I get on the elevator and go to what I thought was the fourth floor. I didn’t realize the fourth floor was broken into parts. So when I climbed up the ramp, I couldn’t find my car.

First thing.

Panic.

Second thing.

WHERE did it go?

Third thing.

What floor am I on?

Oh huh.

I took the stairs, and found my friend, the weird drawing.

Yay. My floor!

YaY my car!!!

The view was really nice from the structure. The picture was a fail.

p.s. I realize this is late advice for freshmen or anybody else, but who knows, it could help you out. Use this website to find buildings: http://www.campusmap.wayne.edu/

And the Undergraduate Library (UGL) has maps on the first floor, on the information desk (on your left hand side when you enter)