Drowning in Sweats of Love

3 months, 15 weeks, 92 days, and 2208 hours. That was how long it took me to finally get back on this site. I wasn’t going to quit blogging, mind you; blogging has been a part of me for more than eight years. The reason I was away for so is long is because of the hectic semester I had.

Last semester (wow, can’t believe I’m actually done with my second-to-last semester), I took the capstone seminar class in political science. Basically, we were supposed to produce a worthy research on political science. Sounds simple enough, but do not be fooled. Every week we had to write at least three different papers, each not as short as I would have preferred. This on top of three more classes. When I showed my syllabus to a friend, who is a graduate student, he said he would not ever want to be in such class. The class was every Monday, and every Sunday I feel like dropping it, all the way till the final week. Heck, over the semester, I had considered dropping each of my class at different times, all because I thought I could not be able to carry all these classes simultaneously. When I finally submitted my final paper today, it was definitely a celebration…until I realize I have to do it all over again next semester for my other major. Oh well, next semester is three weeks away, so I am not going to think about it till then! Right now I just want to dig into the pint of ice cream in the freezer!

This semester was also the first time ever in my life I actually worked for pay. I am a bit behind when compared to those who have worked since their first semester in the United States. Regardless, it was a first personally, and I have enjoyed every second (and every penny) of it. It is the first time in my life that I can say I earned what I bought. When I was younger, my parents would reward my good grades, and I used to say I earned it. That was a different situation. This time I put hours and efforts, making new friends along the way! I pride myself for not depending on my parents since coming to the States, and this semester, I took it a step further. All while enrolled in that tortuous class!

Finally, this semester I had the chance to put hours into an internship that I am passionate about. It was not a lot of office work; nonetheless, I had the freedom to do something I truly enjoyed—reading—while getting credit! Given how I have just spent a whole day writing about my experience in a paper yesterday, I am not going to lunge into it right now. All I want to say is that I am grateful to be able to work with such an amazingly knowledgeable supervisor who opened my eyes about the plight of Muslims in the United States and worldwide. It was an honor to discuss and to debate with him.

While doing all these, I also had to do some other personal stuff on the side. I am so grateful for my rock, my husband, who was by me all the while, supporting me and pulling me out of my dark days. He’s definitely my number one supporter, even when I doubt myself (which is often).

This is just an ‘update’ post. In order to keep in tone with the direction of this blog, I will post more of my perspective on global events—and everything else in between—that matter to me. Given the many changes we witnessed last spring and summer, believe me, I have a lot to say on the rise of the democratically elected Islamist parties in the Middle East. Yet, I am not going to go into it right now. Let me enjoy reliving the moment I handed in that final paper earlier today.

Syaza