From My Perspective

The Blind Side: the Story of Michael Oher and the Tuohy family

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:06:00 +0000

This afternoon my brothers and I went to go see the "The Blind Side", which is a movie based on a true story. The movie revolves around the story of Michael Oher, a homeless African American sixteen year old (whose father is dead and his mother is a drug addict), who is taken in by the (Caucasian) Tuohy family. Oher happens to be in the same grade as Collins Tuohy, and Collins had mentioned to her parents about the new kid.

In his first nine years of school Oher was enrolled in eleven different schools, and each continuously passed on the "problem" to the next. When he arrived at the Briarcrest Christian School at the age of 16, Oher had a measured I.Q. of 80 -- which put him in the ninth percentile -- and had a GPA of 0.6.

I'm a pretty sensitive and emotional person as it is, so it shouldn't even be a surprise - but i found myself tearing quite a few times throughout the movie! But the movie's comedic side struck a balance as well, fortunately. It is such a sad, yet inspirational story; heart breaking, yet motivational.

If you haven't seen "The Blind Side" yet, i highly recommend it for all of you. it is a poignant movie and aside from a violent scene near the end of the movie that limits the movie to a PG-13 rated audience- it is full of great lessons for everyone (from racial tensions to education)!

If you haven't seen this yet, definitely read that too. One of my brothers shared that with me about three years ago when the piece was written, and then again later when Oher was in the NFL draft. Like the read said, for someone to be in the 99th percentile, someone also has to be in the one or two percentile - but it's so hard to fathom its reality.

Here's an amazing and powerful quote from the article:

Leigh Anne Tuohy grew up with a firm set of beliefs about black people but shed them for another — and could not tell you exactly how it happened, except to say, “I married a man who doesn’t know his own color.” Her father, a United States marshal based in Memphis, raised her to fear and loathe blacks as much as he did. The moment the courts ordered the Memphis City Schools integrated in 1973, he pulled her out of public school and put her into the newly founded Briarcrest Christian School, where she became a student in its first year. “I was raised in a very racist household,” she says. Yet by the time Michael Oher arrived at Briarcrest, Leigh Anne Tuohy didn’t see anything odd or even awkward in taking him in hand.

And here's a short clip i came across earlier:

As Thanksgiving approaches, It's so amazing to think that of how much we take for granted every day... and even complain for some of it! I can't even imagine how many times i've stressed over academic work, for example, without even thinking about how blessed i am to even receive such an education in the first place!

While i think we should be thankful for our blessings every single day, I still wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! and Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak to all the Muslims! Hope everyone has a great few days off to relax with their family and friends.

Thoughts on NJ Governor's Election... Two Weeks Late.

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:56:00 +0000

So it's been two weeks since election day, but i didn't get a chance to blog about it until now.

first, my personal opinion on the results:

saying i was disappointed would be quite an understatement. I've said it before and i'll say it again: by no means am i a supporter of Corzine. However, i oppose many of the core things Christie sides with. Like i said before, healthcare and education are two of the big issues! I just can't understand how anyone would be against mandating health insurance companies to cover mammograms when breast cancer is the number one cause of death for females in the United States. And then to the education aspect - Christie wants to cut funding for early education because he thinks preschool is "babysitting". come on, people... seriously?

and now, comparing the results and our prediction for our class assignment for Somerset County. to refresh your memory, from an earlier post:

---

we predict a tight race between Christie and Corzine in Somerset County, with the following percentages:

Jon Corzine - 47%

Chris Christie - 45%

Chris Daggett - 8%

for the voter turnout aspect, we predict: around a 55% turnout rate of the REGISTERED voters (not voting age population). There are 193,345 registered voters right now in Somerset county, so 55% of that would be: 106,340.

---

we based our predictions, mainly, on past statistics and the trends. While Somerset County used to be the heart of the republican party in New Jersey, the margins had been decreasing tremendously each election cycle and had become quite competitive and close between the two major parties (in all sorts of races - governor, senatorial, presidential). With the Obama factor, democrats won in the county last year and we (wrongly) thought Corzine would be able to carry on the hype from the Obama factor

in reality, what happened in Somerset County was:

Jon Corzine - 34.29%

Chris Christie - 56.21% (so obviously Christie won. BIG TIME.)

Chris Daggett - 8.71% (extremely close to our prediction!!!!)

and for the voter turnout, 102,922 (approximately 53.23% of the registered voters casted a vote in the Governor's election from Somerset County. our predictions were pretty accurate for the voter turnout aspect.

we attributed the Christie win to several factors - a low democratic turnout (incumbency bias, free-rider problem); the anger and frustration felt by many in the state with the politicians because of the corruption and scandals in the state and people just wanting a change; the national problems we are facing that trickle down to the states and how many attribute it to the party in office currently, not the one that was the root of the problem; let's face it - most of us know at least one person who has lost their job; negative campaigning (omnipresent in EVERY election) - it's a double negative because not only does it work, but it also works the other way because some people are totally against them and use that against the politician; and of course the notion that many were expecting a miraculous overnight turnaround in the problems the nation is facing with the election of Barack Obama and are quite displeased that none of the "changes" have seemed to occur. things don't just happen overnight... they take time, but most of the general public doesn't see that of course.

Thoughts: Registration, RU Football, LSATs

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:44:00 +0000

It's so unbelievable, but i registered this past Monday (November 9th) for my last semester as an undergraduate at Rutgers University! I can't believe it! It doesn't feel like I have been here for so long (three and a half years at this point!) and now am just months away from graduating in May. While each individual semester has seemed to drag on forever, it has in general flew by pretty fast. It hasn't been the easiest few years by any means, but i can honestly say it has been worth it. The roller coaster ride with the combination of the stress, challenges, agony, and the feelings of accomplishments have been nothing short of interesting, to say the very least.

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! I've been meaning to write a blog post on my mom's hospital stay/surgery from the beginning of October (over a month ago!), and i just can't seem to get some free time together. Hopefully in the next few days i will since i finally finished my midterms, papers, and projects this past week. Besides a few papers and a project, I don't have much extra school work due until the final exams period which is about a month away.

I also got my LSATs score back near the end of October, and i didn't do nearly as well as i would have liked or as well as i thought i would have done with all the studying time i put it. Needless to say, i was (and still am) quite frustrated and flushed. For the first few weeks, i was pretty upset (quite an understatement). I'm going to retake the LSATs in February and see how i do. People have been telling me not to let it get to me, but after all the studying, how can i not let it to get to me? It's something i've been thinking about and aspiring towards since the eighth grade! I know if it's meant to be, it'll work out... and if it's not... that's alright too... but i CAN'T just not give it another try. i guess i'll re-evaluate once i get my scores back from the LSATs from February and see what i want to do. I've been in the law school frame of mind for so long, that the thought that it may not be for me is quite upsetting. I'll be off for about three weeks in between the fall and spring semester that starts mid January so i'll have to get some hard core studying done then to prepare for the February LSATs.

On a quite different note, this past Thursday i also went to another Rutgers Football game - RU vs USF. Unfortunately with everything going on, it was only the second game i have been able to attend this season (i went to the RU vs. Howard really early in the season). I was hoping i would be able to attend more considering it's my last year as a RU student, but oh well. Hopefully, i'll at least be able to go to the last home game of the season against West Virginia. RU vs. USF was an amazing game, and i had a great time - so even if it is the last game i attend as the student, it was great. The final score was RU - 31 and USF - 0. I was hoping for a great game with a huge win, but i didn't think the ranked USF team would end up not scoring at all!

2009 NJ Governor's Election Prediction

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:43:00 +0000

So as i said in my earlier post from this morning, my project for my 'Elections and Participation' course at Rutgers this semester was to predict the voter turnout rate and who will win in Somerset County (and with what proportion).

I just submitted our prediction, and we predict a tight race between Christie and Corzine in Somerset County, with the following percentages:

Jon Corzine - 47%
Chris Christie - 45%
Chris Daggett - 8%

for the voter turnout aspect, we predict: around a 55% turnout rate of the REGISTERED voters (not voting age population). There are 193,345 registered voters right now in Somerset county, so 55% of that would be: 106,340.

I'll update later in the week with our explanation for the basis of our prediction as i'm still organizing all of our information. Or perhaps when i take a look at the actual results for comparison. I forgot to mention in the earlier post that that is also part of our assignment. When we present next week, we also have to include the actual results, and how much the actual results varied from our predictions and possible reasons and whatnot. So at this point, our assignment is only partly over.

This was (is) definitely a fun, interesting (and hard!) assignment, and I'm quite anxious to see the results tomorrow.

On a general state level prediction, i think Corzine will end up winning (but with a very small margin) the election.

again, a quick reminder : don't forget to go out and vote tomorrow!

UPDATE (7:45 AM on 11/03/09): the grad student that teaches our course sent out the overall predictions from our class, summing up all the counties. Here's the data:

The class expects to see approximately 2,643,282 votes tomorrow (51% of registered
voters) and the final tally to divide statewide:
Corzine: 45.95% of the vote
Christie: 41.65% of the vote
Daggett: 6.21% of the vote

It'll be interesting to see how close we got as a class - as political science students!

Based on an anonymous class vote taken in class yesterday:
80% expect Corzine to win the election
20% expect Christie to win the election

And:
65% would vote for Corzine
20% would vote for Christie
14% would vote for Daggett
1% would vote for Evgeni Malkin (i asked my brother who this was.... because i had no idea... and it's apparently a hockey player).

Election Day is Tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:26:00 +0000

just a friendly reminder that TOMORROW is Election Day!

Don't forget to vote and remind your friends and family to do the same. Just because it is not a presidential election does not mean it is not important for you to cast your votes!

I am definitely interested in what happens in the Governor's election here in New Jersey, and it's implications! To make things even more interesting, my project for my 'Elections and Participation' class is to actually predict the voter turnout and who will win in the governor's election, and with what proportion. We were divided into groups, and our group has to predict for Somerset County, New Jersey.

I Met Two Presidents in Two Days

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I don't know how many people get to say that... or when i will ever get the chance to meet even ONE other president, but the last two days have been amazing for someone like me who LOVES politics and who is such a big fan of Barack Obama!

by the way, i'm going to throw in the past two days in one HUMONGOUS post because otherwise, one or the other would never get done... as i've been getting about one post done per month for the last few months. I have a post that i barely started two weeks ago still sitting in my drafts that i just haven't had time to write out! :( hopefully, soon... because i definitely want to get it done.

Anyhow, after being hesitant for a few days whether i was even going to attend the political rally where Bill Clinton was coming to rally for Corzine at my own school (Rutgers) because of a long and tiring day, i did end up going right after class... and i had a great time. The waiting line was decently long by the time we got there, and soon it had become much much longer! One thing that surprised me was there were no security checks (considering a former president was going to be present).

I know my brother Ayaz and i were discussing this, and many others feel the same way... but those rallying for Corzine seem to be doing a better job for him than Corzine is himself. and of course, Clinton is a great speaker as it is.

On a sidenote, after the event my brother and I met a reporter/fellow tweep (one uses twitter) Mike Memoli and it was so interesting to meet someone you communicate with online! We saw and talked with him at the Clinton/Corzine and the Obama/Corzine event (and met his sister and nephew there too).

Until attending the Clinton/Corzine rally, i was 100 percent sure that i was absolutely not going to be attending the Obama/Corzine rally the following day at FDU because of work, school work, and whatnot. But then, after the Clinton/Corzine rally...i realized no matter how much else was going... they could all take a back seat, because who knows when i would get such an amazing opportunity again in my life (or if i would ever!).

Luckily, i have no classes on Wednesday and was able to get someone to cover my shift at work on campus. I am SO SO SO glad i convinced myself to go!

Ayaz and I left home around 12ish (it was about 40 - 50 minute drive without traffic to get to Farleigh Dickinson University) and doors opened at 3 PM. We got there around 1:15ish i would say, and somehow, there were no real lines of any sorts and we were lucky enough to get to the front of the line!! To think that i wasn't even going to go, and then i ended up in the front row!!! (Can you tell how great of a time i had? :) )

One of the many speakers before we finally hear from Obama, was freeholder/reverend Vernon Walton (the first African-American to serve as a Bergen County Freeholder). He was a great speaker and he was amazing at getting the crowd going and was definitely a tough act to follow. he was probably my favorite speaker, aside from Obama of course, from last night.

Oh, and a last minute addition to the rally was Caroline Kennedy. most of the crowd had no idea she was also going to be one of the notable speakers that we would witness, but my brother and i got a heads-up from the reporter Mike Memoli that we follow on twitter. While Weinburg teased the unknowing audience about the "she" that was about to speak, we already knew all thanks to technology. :)

Caroline Kennedy received a much deserved standing ovation. Like so many others, I've had a natural interest in the Kennedy family and the tragedies that have struck their family. and no matter what your political philosophies are, Caroline Kennedy comes of as "real" and comes off to be just one of us. Furthermore, what Ted Kennedy did throughout his life for healthcare was amazing, and hopefully the fight will continue.

It's scary/sad to think of how many people are not covered by health insurance... and how many of those people are little helpless kids! Education and Healthcare issues are two of the main ones that i am especially concerned with. It's nice to hear the politicians hear about what "they are going to do", but it'll be even nicer to see some action being taken.

I'm no huge fan of Corzine (i haven't researched him enough to be one) but some of the things Christie is against, is so hard to believe! I can't believe anyone would be against things such as having a 2 day hospital stay for new mothers, having mandated mammograms, and funding for education. If we elect Christie, that's taking some major steps backwards. Christie wants to make it not mandatory for healthcare insurance providers to cover mammograms!!!! can you believe that?? who could be against such things! especially when breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for females!!! not only that, but Christie also wants to cut funding for early education... because he thinks preschool is "babysitting". can you hear my frustration??

Anyways, getting back to the rally, talking about Caroline Kennedy reminds me of one of the funny moment as we waited for the "real" speeches. one of the secret service agents brought out a black portfolio to the podium that i am assuming was carrying Obama's speech and the crowd was so anxious, that the secret service agent got a huge ovation from the crowd for simply bringing the portfolio out to the podium and walk back to the back area. the agent just smiled, shook his head, and headed back out. The pretty cool DJ promoted a second wave of cheers/applause from the crowd for him too. :)

here's Caroline's speech:

Loretta Weinberg spoke before Caroline Kennedy and Jon Corzine spoke after Caroline Kennedy. Weinberg's speech was the same as the one from the night before at Rutgers. Corzine started off by saying he'll keep his speech short because he knew the real reason we were all here was to listen to Obama. Obama, of course, spoke last. i think one of the best techniques Corzine has been doing lately is linking Christie to Palin - that's ingenious right there and anyone with half a brain will negate them. the latest polls (from today) show Corzine leading by a three point margin (very small)... but this is the first time he's been leading for a while. all of the powerful speakers this week have definitely helped Corzine, undoubtedly.

by the way, did you guys know Corzine's mom is a registered republican?? i had no idea until Corzine mentioned that yesterday!

Obama came out to a loud and cheering audience, of course... and the atmosphere was amazing. and it only got better as Obama spoke. I've said it many times before - Obama is a great, inspirational, and eloquent speaker... and even more so in person! Ayaz and i were so lucky to meet him from so close up, and shake hands with him! I truly believe he has the potential to make a big difference for the country.

I've heard the "fired up" story many times before, but i heard it again last night live as Obama ended with the story (and i was wearing my 'fired up' shirt too!). it's one of those things that never get old. Obama said the moral of the "fired up" story was that "one voice can change a room...and if can change a room it can change a city... and if it can change a city, it can change a state...and if it can change a state, then it can change a country...". Obama, intelligently, connected this with urging each of us individually to go out there and knock on some doors, call some people, get our friends/family/neighbors out to vote, etc because we could make the difference.

this next image shows just how close we got:

also, during Obama's speech... near the center in the front row alone we had three girls "faint" in the same general section. i found that really weird, but the secret service just came in and carried each of the girls out as it happened.

here's obama's speech btw:

I know i would have regretted it later had i not gone to either of the events (ESPECIALLY the Obama event)! This is a pretty long post as it is, but i'll probably add more thoughts to this as i remember more things.

These past two days have been pretty amazing... and one of those things i'll remember forever!

UPDATE: this post is as long as a 5 page essay! to think how productive i could have been school-wise today! :( :)

September at a Quick Glance

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:13:00 +0000

So i've been MIA from blogging recently (for like a month!), but that's because a lot has happened (and has been happening) that has been keeping me quite busy!!

Anyhow, i took my LSATs this morning! The morning started off rough with having low air pressure in one of the tires of the car... and when i eventually got to the building where my exam was... there's a note telling us to go to a completely different building. I mean i go to Rutgers, so getting to the other building wasn't such a big deal for me... but for everyone that came to take the LSATs at Rutgers but doesn't actually go to Rutgers... it was a challenge! One kid, candidly, suggested it was actually a practice logic game to help our brains focus :). Thank goodness i left early to leave ample leeway time.

I've been sick since monday, so i didn't get too much studying done in the week leading up to, but i hope i did fine. If not, i can always retake them in December... i hope i don't have to though! I HATE being sick ( i KNOW no one likes being sick!), and this constant weather change is driving me crazy... and is definitely the root of me being sick.

On another note, i began my senior year of college early this month! I can't believe i am a senior in college... where has the time gone?! I remember my first day of school ever, starting second grade in canada once we moved there, then seventh grade when i moved to new jersey, starting high school, then college... and now it's almost over! I really wish it would slow down a little! To think that in May, i will be a college graduate is AMAZING and weird!

All of this, of course, means that i have started looking at law schools and have began the process that goes along with it (letters of recommendations and whatnot), which has been a little nerve-wracking. All of it seems so surreal.

Oh, and Rutgers Football season is well underway as well! I've only been to one of the games so far... and haven't really been following it to well this year because of the time constraint, but it's still been fun when i do get the chance. Hopefully i'll get a chance to go to a couple of more games this season... especially since it's the last year i'll be a student here.

Senator Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:11:00 +0000

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." -- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009

Around 1:30 A.M. this morning, i was suprised and deeply saddened to receive "breaking news" text messages from several different news organizations alerting me that Edward Kennedy had passed away due to brain cancer at the age of 77... fifteen short months after the diagnosis.

Edward Kennedy was not only one of the most influential politicians, but a true humanitarian which was quite evident through his vast efforts for healthcare amongst many other things.

He is irreplaceable - but whoever takes on his roles... has a very tough job ahead of him/her.

It is hard to fathom that exactly one year ago, Edward Kennedy gave yet another inspirational speech at the DNC. While he seemed fragile and ill, his will seemed as strong as ever.

Edward Kennedy - you will be missed by many, friends and strangers alike.

The Daily Show

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:45:00 +0000

This past monday, my brother Ayaz and i FINALLY went to a taping of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". By FINALLY, i mean that i originally got tickets last year for several months later, but by the time the day came around - the writers were on strike and so it was cancelled. This time, my brother Faraz, got tickets back in February.

The suggested arrival time was around 3:30 PM - we got there around 2 o'clock and there was already a line forming. We stood in line in the heat (thank god for the shaded area we were standing under) for over three hours (doors open for airport like security checkpoints at 5:15 PM). So, if you have tickets and are planning on going - plan on getting there as early as possible.

On a quick sidenote, the sign above the entrance is this:
(in case you can't read it - it says "Abandon News All Ye Who Enter Here"

Anyways, getting there at a reasonably early time (2 PM), my brother and I were still #s 16 and 17 in line. Right before they let groups of people enter the security checkpoints, several of the staff members come out to make sure everyone in line has a ticket (and those that don't are sent to the standby area. And as they do that, they give the people in the lines the official tickets (they say that until you get these tickets, there is no guarantee because they run on a first come first serve basis). There are, i believe, 239 seats in the studio.

I was quite dissappointed in the fact that the tickets we got were like, as Ayaz described it, middle school bathroom passes... and not official tickets that we could keep as souvenirs or anything. Here's the picture of mine:

oh and by the way, they are insanely serious about not letting any photography being done inside the studios at any point (before, during, or after the taping)... or chewing gum (or eating/drinking of course). Some of it seemed a little extreme (like the no gum chewing), but whatever. the security team kept saying that if they saw anyone take pictures, they would come around and confiscate the camera until the end of the show AND personally delete all the photos. Oh yeah, phones must be turned off (and not just on vibrate or silent)... and in their words - "no tweetering was allowed". :)

So we finally get in to the studio, and they have the music blasting FOREVER. after the longest time, the warm-up comedian guy comes out.. and he was pretty funny... but it was dragged on and on (even he kept saying "sorry guys, but i can't leave until they give me the signal"). and then FINALLY (after what seemed forever), Jon Stewart comes out to a huge ovation and answers some questions from the crowd (one of the awkward ones was about whether Colbert and Stewart are having a secret affair because they tend to take their vacations together... to which Stewart slyly responds "well, it's not a secret anymore" :). After several of the questions were about Colbert, one guy finally asks Stewart if he personally likes "when people come onto HIS show and ask about Colbert" :).

Personally, i found Stewart to be funnier as he was doing improv before the actual scripted show. Oh and also, when Stewart first came out.. he asked the crowd if everyone had been waiting outside for hours and then added "I'm sorry but it definitely isn't worth it."

Another interesting point to note was the diverse demographic background of the crowd. there were people there not only from across the nation, but across the world - some mentioned were Zimbabwe, Oman, New Zealand, (Berlin) Germany, Kuwait.

This is all i can remember for now, but i'll probably add stuff later if i think of more. But one this is fore sure - I definitely want to go back again... and also to the "The Colbert Report" with Stephan Colbert.

Lightning

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:41:00 +0000

I have internet again! and air conditioning!

I never, in a million years, would have ever expected this to happen to us - but lightning struck our house this past wednesday! it's one of those things you always hear about... but never think it's going to happen to you or anyone you know.

My mom had been telling me for a few days prior to wednesday that we were supposed to be getting bad thunderstorms on wednesday... and i didn't really take it too seriously cause it never really is.

This time, of course, was different. first, our lights went for a bit with the crazy thunder and lightning. then, just as i was sitting down on the sofa... i hear a loud noise (which was obviously lightening striking something/somewhere really close outside)... so i got right back up. just as i was telling my mom that i am not sitting there, and started to move towards the other sofa - i stopped and said to my mom that i am not sitting over there either because the boiler/utility room is right behind that sofa. LITERALLY right then (i'm not kidding/exaggerating, etc.) lightning struck our boiler room!!!

it was absolutely INSANE! the noise was like no other. then, we could smell smoke and what not.. so we had to call 911 and have the police and firefighters come and check to make sure there was no internal damage.

alhumduillah, everyone was fine - our air conditioning was damaged (because the lightning struck that)... and it's shock was so large that it destroyed my brother's computer altogether along with the router and modem (I HAD NO INTERNET FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS!!) and damaged my parent's computer somewhat.

having no internet was rough at times (but doable, surprisingly) - the no A.C. though was crazy.

MB Muslima Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:02:00 +0000

I haven't really had time to post recently (LSATs are less than two months away and i need all the studying time i can get), but i definitely wanted to post about this.

As i mentioned in an earlier post, my friend Yasmin recently started working on creating an online magazine for Muslim women (others are, of course, more than welcome to read and give their two cents). today the first issue of Modest Beautiful Muslima Magazine is set to be released... and mashallah, it has turned out extremely well.

Click here to go to the home of Modest Beautiful Muslima (or MBM for short) Magazine to browse.

I'm so proud of you Yasmin - I knew you would do an incredible job.

What I Missed in Orlando, Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:01:00 +0000

This is probably the last of my blog posts for the florida trip.

Here's what i wanted to see/do, that i didn't get to:

see:
buzz lightyear (at magic kingdom)
spiderman (at universal studios)
cat in the hat (at universal studios)
ariel (magic kingdom)
the shuttle launch from a closer vicinity.

take a picture with:
snow white (i did see her from far though at magic kingdom)
winnie the pooh and tigger (stood in line forever, and then gave up)

rides:
men in black - stood in line forever, and had to leave because we were running late. we had to leave the park early that day to drive down to see the shuttle launch attempt (that was canceled).
simpsons - left park early cause of the shuttle launch attempt.

i heard neither were very good though.

eat at: the halal dairy queen (minutes away from our hotel)

oh, well... there's always next time. :)

Orlando Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:05:00 +0000

I figured I'd do a separate post of favorites from the trip.

Favorite Meal:

My favorite meal was at "Adam's Philly Steak & Gyros", where we had lunch the afternoon of our flight. It served halal food, which was of course a plus... but best of all, the food was absolutely delicious... and the portions were large! Anyone in that area should definitely dine there. The only thing i was disappointed about was the fact that we didn't get to go there until our last day... even though i had looked it before our trip.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many halal restaurants were near our hotel.

Favorite Theme Park:

my favorite theme park from the ones we saw was epcot (magic kingdom came a close second)... because of the shows we saw (the shuttle launch and soarin were my favorite!)

the part of epcot that features different countries was quite amazing as well - each country was very well represented!

also, considering the amount of people in the park that day - the restrooms were immaculate! i was definitely pleasantly surprised and quite happy (magic kingdom was the total opposite).

Favorite Ride:

from epcot - soarin
from magic kingdom - splash mountain

Favorite Show:

from universal studios - shrek, twister (my god, it was SO realistic!)
from magic kingdom - mickey's musical

Favorite Picture:

My favorite picture would be the one of all sixteen of us at epcot right outside of the character spot (where i got a picture taken with mickey, minnie, goofy, donald duck, and goofy).

Favorite Character:

My favorite characters that i saw would have to be minnie mouse and cinderella!

Florida, Continued.

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Monday, bright and early (8 AM), we went to epcot. This was the only day that all sixteen of us went to the same park. Epcot was probably my favorite park overall because of all the shows we watched.

at epcot, my favorite two rides were soarin' and this other one (that i can't remember the name of) where it simulated a shuttle launch and we end up at mars. in soarin', we literally we're soaring over los angeles - it was so cool!

Tuesday, we spend ALL day at magic kingdom (got to the park before 9 AM and got back to our hotel after midnight). The parades and fireworks at magic kingdom were beyond amazing... of all the fireworks i've seen, the fireworks at magic kingdom were beyond spectacular... a definite must-see!

The only major dissapointment from magic kingdom was that i didn't get to take a picture with snow white or winnie the pooh/tigger. i saw snow white from far, and after waiting in line forever to take a picture with winnie the pooh and tigger - my brother faraz and i gave up to move on and do other things.

Wednesday was our day to sleep in (by which i mean waking up at 8:30 AM). We went out to eat lunch at "Adam's Philly Steak & Gyros", and it was my absolute favorite meal from our trip. the portions were large, the taste was delicious... and it served halal food!

from there, we went to the "Florida Mall" to go to the M&M's World, which was really cool.

at that point we still had some time to kill before our flight, but we decided to go to the airport anyways so we could try to see the shuttle launch (that had been delayed AGAIN)... fortunately, that paid off because we finally saw it happen! there were a lot of people gathered towards the east of the airport (and we could see a lot of the workers gathering through the windows down by the planes as well).. and it was awesome to see the shuttle launch and follow the orange glowing streak as it headed up... it was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity!

soon after, we boarded our jetblue flights... not knowing of the crazy storm heading our way (and the tornado just south of us). after an over 2 hour flight delay, we were finally on our way. the first half hour or so of the flight was pretty scary as the lightening was still pretty strong (i was definitely concerned about flying in it). i mean if they were going to delay the flight over two hours because of the storm... what was another half hour or so? even worse, the pilot announces that we would be the first to take off after the storm (um, thanks? that makes me feel better... NOT!). Fortunately, everything went fine.

I can't believe how fast the five days flew by! Don't you hate when that happens?

Home Sweet Home

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:34:00 +0000

I'm finally back home… after like three weeks! Boy, am I exhausted. These past five days, especially, have been amazing! It was, by far, the best family vacation ever. Tiring, but amazing. We got back home at 4:30 in the morning! Our flight from Orlando to D.C. was delayed two hours... and then we went to our mamoo's house real quick to pick my luggage that i had left there from my trip to VA... and then finally left for the four hour drive home. I slept for most of the drive home... and went right to sleep when we got home - and didn't wake up until 11:30! which is so not like me! even with all that sleep, i've been tired all day.

We flew on Jetblue... and i was pleasantly surprised. for some reason, i had the negative things i've heard in the past about it in my head... but flying for the first time on jetblue - my experience was good. the seats were roomy and comfortable, and the attendants were friendly.

Orlando was, plain and simple, absolutely AMAZING! There's just no other way to describe it. Fortunately, the weather cooperated throughout our trip - we were very lucky! A crazy storm ended just as we got to our hotel the first night... and a crazy storm (including a tornado nearby) began once we were already on the plane... so aside from a 2+ hour flight delay... our trip entailed pretty much hot weather (the last day, with heat index it was like 116 degrees). during the days we were there, it was rain for like a few minutes sometimes in the evening... and then immediately clear up.

The first night we got there, we didn't do much - just went out to eat at a halal chinese place. the rest of the days, however, were jam packed. Sunday, we went to universal studios early in the morning - where my favorite thing was the shrek 4D show and twister (SO realistic!). we left around five o'clock to drive 45 minutes away to the kennedy space center to see the shuttle launch. the weather was great until about 5-10 minutes before it was too launch... and then the storm clouds came. even though, there was no storm there - lightening was apparently visible within 10 miles... which caused the launch to be delayed another 24 hours.

while we were disappointed, we had no idea how annoyed and restless we would be when the 40 minute drive back to orlando would turn into a 4+ hour drive because of the heavy volume. man, i've never been more restless in my life! we knew then, that there was no way we would be attempting to come back the next day.

More on our days in epcot and magic kingdom, and the shuttle launch tomorrow (hopefully). it's 10:20 right now, and i'm already exhausted... but going to try and hold off trying to sleep for another hour or so to avoid waking up crazy early.

Did i mention it was the best trip ever?

Virginia Today, Florida Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I can't believe i have been in virginia for two weeks! i came june 28th... and later today, my family and my cousins are driving down here as well because tomorrow we all go to florida, inshallah. All sixteen of us! When i say I CAN'T WAIT... i mean I CAN'T WAIT!! this week has been the longest week of my life because it's gone soooo slow!

I've hung out with ajmal mamoo's family mostly here in virginia, and it's been a lot of fun! i'm definitely gonna miss them a lot!

Tomorrow at this time, we will be at the airport... i'm SO excited!

Why I Wear the Hijab

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:54:00 +0000

So my friend Yasmin recently started an online magazine for muslim women (called Modest Beautiful Magazine… or MB Magazine for short), and as I was exploring the site I saw that one of the issues to be talked about in the first issue was "why i wear hijab"… and it immediately got me thinking about back when I started wearing the hijab in the eighth grade.

By nature, I have always been (or would at least like to believe so) very conservative and conscious of my actions. Even when I was younger, I would wear the hijab here and there – but my parents did not want me to commit to it until I was older and mature enough to make the decision.

As many others muslim women and girls would probably agree, the biggest assumption by others is that we are forced to wear the hijab… or that we are oppressed… or even worse, that our religion oppresses females! While I am by no means denying the fact that there are parents out there that force their daughters to wear the hijab, that could not be further from the truth in my case. It was me who approached my parents about wanting to wear the hijab as the beginning of eighth grade, and they let me.

Wearing the hijab does not make you anymore religious than those who do not wear the hijab as there are many religious and practicing females who do not wear the hijab.

I chose to wear the hijab because I feel a sense of protection. It shows others I have respect for myself, and therefore I am respected by others. It is also a reminder for myself to never judge a book by it's cover. Judging someone based on their looks can be, and quite frequently is, very deceiving. It reminds you look beneath the skin and be attracted to someone based on their personality and their character.

LSATs for Dummies

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:55:00 +0000

I've seriously never felt more incompetent in my life.

This whole week so far i've been hardcore studying for the LSATs - focusing most of my attention on the logic games section (as that is the section i am most worried about). I figured it would be hard, but doable. each "game" is followed by five or seven questions. and so far, i have yet to complete a "game" with all of the five or seven questions correctly!

am i worried? you bet.

Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:29:00 +0000

This past friday, for the second time since i graduated high school, i went back to my old high school to speak to the seniors (and some juniors) about college. As i was talking to several of the classes, i found myself telling the seniors (and juniors) how fortunate they were to have so and so as their math teacher (for example) because their class was going to be very helpful when they begin to ease their ways into college a few months later.

Thinking about that, and running into one of my other favorite teachers from high school has had me thinking for the last several days about the teachers that made a difference to me... and my education!

We've all had those teachers that, for one reason or another, have made a significance difference to us. You know... the ones where you don't dread going to class... and actually want to go! Fortunately, i had a good number of great teachers (and in general, i have had mostly good teachers). Some of the "great" ones that stand out exceptionally in my mind are: Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Malague, Mr. Villanueva, Mrs. Gerba, and Mrs. Downey.

From middle school, the only teacher that stands out explicitly is Mr. Shaprio - my eighth grade history teacher. Anytime someone can make a history class fun and interesting - they deserve A LOT of credit! I can't believe how much i enjoyed his class... and still remember so much of it (the way he taught it).

It was also through Shaprio's class that i realized i wanted to study constitutional law in my future. until the eighth grade, i was completely set on being a teacher - i didn't even fully consider any other option. for as long as i can remember, i would gather all my little cousins together every chance i got at family gatherings and "play school". After getting a small glimpse about the constitution in general and constitutional law more specifically through Shapiro's class - i was intrigued. I was immediately torn between being a teacher or a lawyer... then, in the summer after my junior year of high school i participated in a law program in washington d.c. with many students from across the nation (and some from other parts of the world). it was then i gained a lot more confidence... and ultimately knew i wanted to be a lawyer in my future.

The other four teachers are from high school.

Mr. Malague - Malague was my economics and history teacher in the eleventh grade. Malague always had a funny story and jokes to go along with EVERY part of the material he taught us, that made remembering the real academic information SO much easier to remember. i remember clearly looking forward to his class 11th period everyday my junior year... and each day, we would leave his class with a stomach ache from laughing so much... YET i learned so much! I remember parts of so many of his stories, and especially the ones we refused to believe that they were true no matter how persistent he was (one was about meeting one president or another on a train as a child or something... there were other parts of the stories that made it less believable that i can't recall fully). whether the stories were true or not didn't matter... his teaching style worked and he made class a lot of fun at the same time.

Mr Villanueva - I had Villaneuva two years in a row (british literature in the 11th grade and public speaking in the 12th grade)... and Mr. V was definitely the most unconventional teacher i have ever had (literally).

every teacher of english gives some sort of an introduction to the novel we will read next... just not in the same way. i remember clearly one day when i was not feeling well at all, and was hoping it would just be a relatively "normal" and quiet day throughout... i was so out of it that i didn't even notice class had started several minutes ago, and that Mr. V was just sitting at his desk, looking down, jotting down stuff (until people pointed it out)... which was so out of his character. he always greeted us coming into class and whatnot. for that whole class period that day, Mr. V did not speak a word, or even look at any of us. most of the class began to "break the rules" and do stuff they normally would not because they saw Mr. V was not reacting to anything we said or did. little did we know, he was writing down everything he could hear of what we were saying.

the point was that we were about to start reading "lord of the flies" which is a book about some kids whose plane gets shot down and are alone on some island and it basically shows the destruction of mankind without rules and order. Mr. V - by not acting as the teacher, demonstrated the importantance of rules and order by that exercise.

another memory from the time we were reading the same book - class had started several minutes ago, and Mr. V wasn't even in class yet. then out of nowhere, several of my classmates and Mr. V came running in disastrously and began destroying some of the things in the room (like his desk). Was i surprised? No. Anything was possible in this class. But that's what made it so great - i would never have remembered what i read so many years ago, but i remember all the books so well because of the way we learned them.

there are so many stories i remember so well from his class, i could go on forever. i'm also VERY glad i took public speaking my senior. If i had known when i signed up for it that he was teaching it, I'm not sure i would have taken it... or at least been even more hesitant than i was already because i would have expected to have to do crazy stuff that i would not want to do. but that's life, isn't it? we often have to face things and do what we don't want to do. public speaking helped me tremendously (even though i still despise talking in front of large groups of people at times).

Mrs. Gerba - i had Mrs. Gerba for psychology my senior year of high school...and i learned SO much from her class that has helped me in many of my psychology classes in college. Gerba was always willing to help and so incredibly nice, and her teaching style was great. her projects and assignments were always fun, so it didn't seem tedious or boring at all! what i liked most about her was that when someone would ask her a question that she didn't know the answer to... she always would find the answer and get back to us! something so little, but so meaningful! so many times teachers let their pride get in the way and get offended for some reason when they are asked something they don't know the answer to.. and i'm so glad Gerba always went out of her way to help us!

my favorite assignment from her class was the final case study we had to... what an eye opener!

Mrs. Downey - aside from the fact that she is one of the most genuinely nice people you'll ever meet, i had Downey for math my senior year... and she was definitely the first math teacher i EVER had throughout the twelve years of schooling that made math fun. her teaching style was simple, yet so different from others... and it made sense! She also had a great sense of humor, so class was always fun.

it's the little things that i remember... that made such a big difference. it's not like they changed the world... but had a great impact on me (and many others i'm sure).

I keep in touch with a few of the above-mentioned teachers, but i hope i get in touch with the others... because it would be really nice to say thanks. from what i can remember when we were back in school, high school students are definitely not the most appreciative bunch of students... but it's amazing to think how much of an impact teachers have (good or bad) on hundreds of students each year.

We definitely don't appreciate our teachers enough, and i wish more people took out some time to express their gratitudes... and i wish i certainly did. It's amazing that i had these teachers four, five, and in one case over eight years ago... and i can still remember their class so well.

Florida, here we come!

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:56:00 +0000

I can't wait! Hotels and airfare are taken care of finally... and i can't wait to go to florida next month! we're going with some of our extended family... about fifteen of us will be going... and inshallah it should be a lot of fun!!!

We plan on going to Disney... and spend a day at the Kennedy Space Center as well.

Week in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:40:00 +0000

It's been a little over a week of summer vacation and i am LOVING the down time. It's nice not having too constantly stress over deadlines... and these past few days have been a lot of fun especially.

This past thursday was shazia's and zehra's graduation. because they graduated from different colleges within Rutgers and the timing overlapped, i went to shazia's graduation. it was a pretty long ceremony (and about 2,675 graduates), and it was pretty hot, but still a lot of fun. Later that night, we went to zehra's for a BBQ dinner to celebrate (and the food was delicious - i LOVE bihari kakab and bbq chicken!)

then on friday, the girls went out to dinner at red lobster to celebrate shazia's graduation. afterwards, we went to finally see the movie Angels and Demons... and my goodness was it gruesome! It was good overall, just not my type of movie.

sunday, we had another one of our monthly game nights (at imran's) and then a couple of my cousins and i ended up sleeping over there. monday (yesterday) morning was another crazy morning as we got everything ready for zehra's surprise graduation picnic party. the weather was HOT but it was a lot of fun and i'm SO glad the surprise wasn't ruined!

i have had next to no sleep these past six days and so it has been very tiring BUT so much fun! i definitely want to enjoy this summer as much as a possibly can. All the planning and craziness for the parties paid off, alhumduillah and everything was a lot of fun.

Congratulations once again to Shazia and Zehra (and all the other graduates)! I'm so proud of you and your accomplishments!

this past friday i also FINALLY registered for the LSATs for the upcoming september, which means i REALLY have to start studying now! I can't believe I'm graduating next year!

On a completely different note, i woke up this morning to realize that Obama has chosen federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be nominated to be a Supreme Court Justice. She's a women obviously and i knew he was going to pick a women (he better had). And many speculated it would be a hispanic... and with Sotomayor, Obama chose the first hispanic and she's still a woman. The last few days have been so busy, that i haven't even read the news lately - so i didn't even realize Obama was about to announce his nomination. Oh well.

Ha

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:55:00 +0000

So my cousin ordered personalized M&Ms as a gift... and this is what it says on the packaging slip:

obviously it wasn't checked OR packed with pride, considering the person forgot to even sign it!

The beginning of house hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Right after getting out of my final yesterday, i joined my parents in looking at houses (they have been doing that all week)... and all day today, we did the same thing. My goodness, we've seen over twenty houses in the span of two days and each house seems to have something missing.... only if we could combine several of the houses, we would have found our "perfect" house. and of course, the prices in the area are down right insane.

Of all the houses i have looked at all day yesterday and today, there were only two (one that we saw yesterday and one that we saw today) that i (and the rest of my family) "liked" and would even consider. hopefully, we will find a great house soon... because house hunting is down right exhausting!

On a much brighter note, today was my first day of summer vacation! and let me tell you, it feels SO weird not having to stress constantly about all the work i usually have during the semester. after a few weeks of just relaxing, i'll start concentrating on my LSATs review.

Three-Fourths DONE!

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:48:00 +0000

I'm DONE! I had my last final this morning and now I'm unofficially a senior at Rutgers! I am three-fourths done undergrad… wow, that's pretty weird.

Even weirder is the fact that i started receiving information about my graduation a couple of days ago... even though that is still a year away (but i'm sure it'll fly by)!

anyways, summer vacation is FINALLY here!

I don't really have many extensive plans so far for the summer, but I'm looking forward to going to Disney with some of my family from my mom's side in june… and of course going to Canada as we always do… I am also definitely looking forward to enjoying some down time!

P.S. Happy Birthday Shakil Bhai and Popi Baji!

First Experience as a Chaperone

noreply@blogger.com (Summaiyah Hyder) — Thu, 07 May 2009 22:43:00 +0000

So i chaperoned (for the first time ever - and boy did it make me feel old) a trip to Six Flags for one of my old teachers (Ms. Uyola) from high school today. It was interesting, to say the least.

The immaturity level of a lot of the students reminded me of yet another good reason why i'm SO glad i'm not in high school anymore... but overall, they were okay.

Earlier in the morning, i got to see and talk to one of my math teachers from high school (Mrs. Downey) who i love! She's genuinely one of the nicest teachers (and person) i have come across.

It was so weird to be back at the school after two years though! (i graduated three years ago - in 2006 - but went back two years ago to talk to seniors about college, which i'll be doing again next month - last year i was busy with the internship). Most of the teachers are new now ... and even the environment was so different! it was SO laid back! until two years ago, we had to sign in, and wear "visitor" stickers identifying us as guests... but today, i stopped at the front office, and at the secretary's office across the hall... asked in both places... and found out i could just go ahead and go in... the lack of security was appalling.

P.S. I'm three exams and six days away from summer vacation!