Congratulations Graduate!

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Congratulations Faraz on your graduation! I'm writing this up now instead of after the ceremony tomorrow morning because I know the next few days will be just as busy as the last few weeks and I won't have any time to do so.

I'm so proud of you and hopefully this is just the beginning of a lot of successes to come your way in the future. Always give everything your best effort, as that is all you can do - no matter what the end result is. And never give up!

Actually, this month we have had four graduations (Shazia, then me, and now Faraz and Sheeraz later today) amongst us cousins from college alone just in New Jersey - and we have two graduating from high school next month (Samia and Shahbaz). And a few more elsewhere too.

This month has been insane with exams, then graduations, and then this Friday is Maria Baji's wedding, so the last few weeks have been insanely busy but a lot of fun at the same time!

I'm definitely ready for some down time though ;).

Congratulations all around!

P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Goodbye, Rutgers

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I am a college graduate and it feels absolutely AMAZING, yet odd!

My graduation ceremony was earlier this afternoon. The funny thing is my older brother, Faraz, graduates on the 27th, so I am the first one of the cousins from my dad's side to graduate!

I'd like to especially thank my family for putting up with everything they have these past four years with my nervousness/agony/stress/freaking out EVERY SINGLE SEMESTER - especially during the exam periods where I would feel stressed. I feel like describing it as being stressed out/freaking out don't even do it justice - but i'm sure my brothers will have a better way to describe it! While it seemed like EVERY SINGLE SEMESTER started off with some sort of annoyance or issues (from registration to everything else possible), and things only stressed me out even more as the semester progressed, my family was always there to calm me down as best as they could - and find the humor in it. And thanks Ayaz, for driving me to class all the time :)

It hasn't been the easiest few years, and the road to getting here has not been easy, by any means. But looking back, I can say - it has all been worth it. Rutgers has challenged me in ways I could not have even imagined, but with every accomplishment came a sense of victory. While each individual semester has seemed to drag on and has challenged me tremendously, I feel quite blessed to have received a pretty decent education from Rutgers. The stress, nervousness, and the many challenges that each semester has brought on, has without a doubt made me a stronger person.

and now, I can finally say ... i'm finally DONE (undergraduate, at least)!

As another chapter in my life closes, i'm excited to see what the next one brings for me and the challenges that come with it.

Thank you EVERYONE for your continuing support and encouragement.

Goodbye, Rutgers. Thank for a great (challenging, frustrating, stressful, etc.) four years!

Today is...

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... graduation day!

Not sure if I'm more excited or sad yet.

I've been up since 3 A.M. after going to sleep after 1:30 AM!!


P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Halal KFC in NYC

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If there's one thing we are always looking for, it's new local places that serve halal food that serve great food. While our local area has a variety of food available, a good fried chicken joint is what our area is missing. I grew up in Canada, so we  all miss the Popeyes' that are mostly all halal there.

A few months ago, though, we found out that there were two KFC joints in NYC that began to serve halal food. No, not Kennedy Fried Chicken, it's the real deal - Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I tried it once at my cousins' house a few months ago, but by the time they brought it back - it was cold. It's kind of far from our area, but I knew I wanted to go try it when we were in that area.

Last weekend after visiting family, my family and I finally went and tried the food and it was delicious! We got a bucket of the 'extra crispy chicken', but also ordered a piece of the grilled chicken - and it tasted phenomenal. The grilled chicken's seasoning was marinated quite well and every bite had a great taste. The portions of the sides were great too.

But, FYI for all the locals - as of now, only the chicken pieces are halal and nothing else (that means no sandwiches, tenders, popcorn chicken, etc.) and neither is the gravy for the mashed potatoes. All three styles of the chicken pieces, though, are halal - classic, extra crispy, and grilled styles of chicken.

I would definitely recommend it!

 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Blogger Uncovered

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I'm currently being featured in the Blogger Uncovered segment by Adori Graphics.

Head over by clicking here to read my answers (to the questions asked by her readers)!

Is there anything YOU want to ask me? Leave a comment on this post with questions, and I'll answer them soon.


 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Four Years

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Just days before my college graduation, as I was just now looking through old stuff, I came across my high school graduation cap and gown from four years ago for the first time since I graduated.

My tassel was still in tact on the cap. Gotta admit, it was a pretty weird feeling coming across it - so I had to take a picture.

 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

I'm Done!

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I'm DONE! :)

Can you sense my excitement?

I just submitted my last paper and I'm officially done everything! All that is left now is the commencement ceremony in a little over a week!

Actually, while I'm glad to be stress-free after handing in my last paper and finishing exams... I'm not yet sure how I feel about being done. It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was starting classes as a freshman, and here I am... four quick years later... an almost graduate.



P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Tag, You are It.

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As I was leaving from the last day of class of "Current, Moral, and Social Issues" earlier today, (which is a class I was quite interested in taking but turned out to be quite disappointing), the professor said something profound.

He ended the class talking about how important the issues we discussed in this class were and that the debate and the conversation on such topics should never end and then said: "this is the most important game of tag you will ever play... and YOU are it."

While I didn't enjoy the class altogether, the quote did make me smile and has had me thinking of its validity. There are so many issues we are each passionate about, but how many of us actually speak up for them?


 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Full Circle

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I met my friend Vanessa Ma over four years ago at orientation where we were roommates and began our experience at Rutgers University together; earlier tonight, we attended our last class together at Rutgers University as undergraduates.

It's crazy how fast the four years have gone by, but it's pretty neat that it came to a fill circle with Vanessa.

 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.

Friday Fun

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The semester is quickly coming to an end, which means I find a lot of my time being consumed by writing papers and studying (Monday is my last day of classes and I also have an exam that day). It is so unbelievable that Monday is my last day of classes as an undergraduate student! Where has the time gone??

Aside from the end of the semester, my cousin Maria is getting married at the end of May - so all of the preparations and events have been a lot of fun and a big part of the weekends nowadays. I can't believe how fast everything is going by! Her bridal shower was last Friday, and it really got everyone in the wedding festivity mood because of how little time is left.

Part of my gift to her was a slideshow - with a montage of pictures, written messages, and video messages from family and friends - and it turned out pretty nice. I had NO clue how much work it was to make one!!

Yesterday, a bunch of my girl cousins and I went to NYC to hang out. It's so funny that we live so close, yet hardly get a chance to go and actually do stuff. But it was a fun day! We went on the Staten Island Ferry too, and I still can't believe it's free, especially considering how expensive everything else is in NYC... but I'll take it. The view from it is spectacular, and the weather was great too.

My goal has been to post at least once a week so I have it to look back on later, so this is a quick recap. Hopefully, soon I'll have more time to blog.


 P.S. Don't forget to leave me a comment below on your thoughts! As always, I'd love to hear from you.