Here comes my graduation year...!!!

Christmas is over-- I got a brand new spankin' coat, if anyone was interested in knowing-- and now comes the new year. Even more exciting?:

HERE COMES MY GRADUATION YEAR!!!

My little sister is also graduating from 8th grade, so it's a special year for both of us. I think it's ironic that I am graduating into a year that most economists on television are predicting to be one of the worst years in history, and into a time when we have more unemployed people than the Depression. I also bought my first car when gas was $4.00 a gallon, and my computer's motherboard died right around the time when I REALLY needed to be saving money for "life after college". I really need to stop having this bad timing.

I'm home in Chicago right now, and truthfully, I'm ready to go back to Iowa. I cannot wait to start the semester only to see what it brings. My last semester.... aaaaahhhh....

Here's some goals for the next semester:

1. Get into graduate school

2. If #1 ends up not happening, find a job.

3. Go to one last drag show at Coe

4. Become successful in the start of the Flunk Day Activities Committee-- for those who don't know what it is, see post later next year in about May. 

5. Have awesome last moments and memories with friends

6. Perhaps go on a spring break trip? (for the first time ever...)

7. Enjoy every day

Working on the Grad School Apps

Hello all!

Right now I am just working on the grad school apps and potential employment after college. I ended up passing P Chem-whew!- and did pretty well with my other grades, so I am satisfied. Now comes the hard part of trying to decide what to do with my life after.

I just spent that past few days working on my graduate school applications. I totaled how much it cost to apply to four graduate schools by itself-- this includes the application fees, transcript fees, taking the GRE, sending my GRE scores to schools I forgot in my "free" box... it's totaling more than $400. Luckily, Coe is picking up three of those grad school app fees from this program they have. If you qualify, they will pay up to three schools app fees that is on a list they provide. Well, all of my grad school potentials are on there, so....Still... that's a lot of money for just applying to grad school. So here's some advice for anyone planning on going to graduate school after college: SAVE YOUR MONEY! You will need it to apply to graduate school alone, let alone other expenses!

Other than that, I am now chilling in Chicago... things are really snowy here. Luckily, I've got books to keep me company. If there is anything that I LOVE about winter breaks, it's having the time to read books of my own choice. Being a science major, class takes up ALL my time, and by the time I finish my work, I don't even feel like looking at another book, and thus, will veg-out in front of the TV or hanging out with friends. But come winter break... bring on the books! Here's my reading list for this winter (don't laugh... i'm REALLY behind on my reading, as you will see with some books):

1. Eragon

2. Hidden Mysteries in Water (a gift from Mom)

3. Guns, Germs, and Steel

4. Eldest...maybe

I am about to finish Eragon probably tonight or tomorrow. Until then, stay warm, and I shall write again soon!!

7 down, 1 more to go

The End.

I'm beginning my post with the end of another semester. I was originally going to title this post, "1 down, 1 more to go", but then I thought about it, and realized, "Noooooo..... Actually, I've gone through seven semesters at Coe."

This is ridiculous!

When on EARTH did I go through seven semesters? It feels long enough and too short at the same time. Long enough because you feel like your whole life has been school, school, school. But short enough to realize that out of all that school, college seemed to have gone the fastest. 

So I thought I might dedicate this post to a little reflection. I am going to name the three best moments of the seventh semester, and the three worst. 

The Three BEST Moments of Sakinah's Seventh Coe Semester:

1. Interview with Iowa State Graduate College- This was extremely memorable because it occurred the day after labor day. I was definitely feeling out the college. I couldn't believe how MUCH research this college had going on that related to what I wanted to do with my life. But of course, having what you want to study is only the beginning. My mother told me from her graduate school experiences that fitting in with the right mentor and lab and school is really what counts and that visits were more important now than ever before. My interviews with Iowa State left me elated. Not only were the research prospects and the research facilities wonderful, but the PEOPLE there were exactly what I was looking for. My advisor told me that it's a good sign that when I can find a place where there is more than one person I would want to work with. It's probably an even better sign when you have no idea who you would want to work with specifically because so many of the mentors and their labs are wonderful and exciting!

2. Random Moments with the Roommates- I live in an apartment with three girls who I can officially say I love. The first roommate, Sara, was my resident when I was an RA (Resident Assistant) my sophomore year. I remember having to be the ear for her and her other roommates at the time when they got into their skirmishes. From her, I met Blondie (real name is Melissa, Blondie is a nickname) and Jeanice. Jeanice was actually in my First Year Seminar, but we never really hung out. However, I secretly remember thinking that if I were to live in an apartment, I would want to live with those three. I thought they may have had a fourth person picked out, but when they asked me, I was elated. We have our roommate moments, but there was never really any BAD moments in the apartment, and I always enjoy coming home to the randomness with the ladies!

3. Night out with the Girls I went out one night on a girls night to go dancing with some of my gal pals. It was an interesting combination of my friends who didn't really know or hang out with the others. But there were so many memorable moments that night and it was a LOT of fun!!

The Three WORST Moments of Sakinah's 7th Semester at Coe

1. My Last P Chem Quiz- This was a true bummer. I felt that I had studied my life away for this exam, and ended up doing horribly. It's a really bad feeling when you have to wonder where exactly the limitations of your understanding is... not to worry, though. I do believe it was due to high stress and feeling overwhelmed.

2. Doing about 10-15 Minutes Under my Required Senior Seminar Talk Time- Let me just put it this way: you anticipate and practice to do something nearly perfect for the longest time, and then you just talk too fast. It's a sucky feeling.

3. Being too busy to work enough to make some money- I know school is a full time job. But in the past, I was able to balance a job as well. This semester, I made the least amount of money ever because I had very little time to work due to my academic pressures. Now... I need a job.

Now I have one more semester left... my last days as a college students.... what on EARTH can I do to fill them with memorable moments???

I'm sure I could think of a few things.... snowboarding, sledding with friends, movie and hot chocolate nights, bonfires off campus, as well as a first-ever Spring Break trip and the anticipation of hearing from grad schools and finding out where I am going to end up in life! Oh wow, I'm finally going to grow up!

It Sucks When Your Motherboard Dies

If there is any piece of advise I can give you guys about going to college, it is this: Save your money, do not spend it wildly. Because in times like this, when the motherboard of my iBook dies, it makes me grateful that I at least have the money to buy a new one. But it still sucks.



Well, two days ago my motherboard died. Luckily, I was able to extract all my documents for graduate school before things got too terrible. I thought things would calm down after senior seminar. But they didn't. Here's the basic breakdown:



After senior seminar, Friday-Sunday: I went to Ripon, Wisconsin for a weekend with my friend, Erin, to visit our friend Jon. Jon was an REU at Coe for a summer (an REU student is a student from one college to another to do research for a summer. It's like a summer exchange program. REU= Research Experience for Undergraduates). We loved seeing him! But let me tell you, that visit made me appreciate Coe...

Monday-Friday:I came back and had a busy week of attending three other senior seminars and trying to catch up in all my classes that I had gotten behind in due to senior seminar. It was ridiculous.

Friday-Sunday: 18 hours spent on a P Chem lab report. 18 hours....
Went to Iowa City to help boyfriend look at a truck he considered buying. He ended up buying it.
And I ended up with the responsibility of trying to get it back to his hometown somehow this week.

Monday Long story short, my roommate and I got bf's truck and my car to his hometown. Really, it is a long story. Sheesh.

Monday-Tuesday: Relax in Decorah.

Wednesday: Drive 6.5 hours to Chicago. Need to get home for Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving: It's thanksgiving. Eat good food, study for p chem test, read for middle eastern literature paper.

Friday and Saturday: Spend quality time with family... all the while studying for P Chem and reading for paper.

Sunday: Drive through TERRIBLE snowstorm. Get back, write middle eastern literature paper, study p chem, go to bed at 2 am
---> Sunday night: toss and turn all night over daunting final p chem test

Monday: wake up early, take p chem test, finish middle eastern literature paper, realize I forgot about Dr. Bob's project, freak out, CRASH!!!!

Rest of the week: Do random assignments in preparation for end of semester. Somehow Dr. Bob's project will get done.... Somehow.

Yep, and tomorrow's the last day of classes.

Just wait until next week when I write about me freaking out about finals!!!!!

Chemistry Senior Seminar

Last Tuesday was a milestone for me. That was because I finally completed my senior seminar for chemistry.

Senior Seminar is a 35-40 minute talk that all senior chemistry majors must give to the Chemistry Department and the public regarding a subject in chemistry. This is an IN DEPTH analysis of a subject's chemistry. I chose Carbon Dioxide-Binding Organic Liquids. They are proposed as a means of capturing carbon dioxide out of industrial systems-- carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas-- and storing it so as to not contribute to global warming.

Well, my first downfall was that I spoke fast at a certain points, and along with my talk being very tight (in terms of time), this resulted in my final presentation time to be 25 minutes total. However, the entire experience was really rewarding. I was able to present on a subject that related to an issue that I was truly interested in- global warming. That, and this was good practice for things I will be presenting on in graduate school. I also used collaboration. A mentor at Iowa State (a scientist I hope to study under) provided certain papers on carbon sequestration that were extremely helpful, a good friend who is a graduate student at Penn State helped me with a mechanism I was having trouble portray, and my Monkey (inside joke) from Iowa State helped me with papers that I really needed, but Coe did not have access to.

I was pretty touched. The room was filled during my talk. My roommates took up the entire room, and friends who had graduated came back to see me present. That felt really good. I guess I had really high expectations of myself that I didn't feel I met. However, a few days later, a good friend of mine told me something that lifted my spirits. A few weeks prior to my talk, I attended the seminar of my advisor's wife. Her presentation was amazing, and I remembered thinking, "That is how I want to present. That is how my senior seminar needs to be." My friend compared me to her, saying it reminded her of that talk. I believe that Cindy (my advisor's wife) did a thousand times better than me. But still, it was nice to know that I was at least compared positively to her!

Either way, senior seminar is over, and now I can focus more on applying to graduate schools and jobs... it's very very daunting to think that there is only about 1.5 weeks of actual classes left before finals. Frightening....

My argument for why global warming was important and why people should go to my talk. This was on the final slide of my presentation... after the references, so I didn't really get to it. But it was there!!!

Tuesday, November 4th: I Voted

I woke up pretty early on Tuesday after my trip to Vegas. It was Election Day, and unliked most of the rest of Iowa, I opted to vote on this day itself, not necessarily early. This would be my first time that I have ever voted in general, let alone the presidential election.

I left Coe around 8:30 am, and walked to the voting station. Much to my surprise, there was no line!! I don't know if THAT many people voted early, or if everyone was just at work... but at the time, I didn't mind, so long as I got my vote in.

I'm not offended to say who I voted for. I'll admit: I voted for Obama. I was a great Hillary supporter, and even though she didn't win, I was still for Obama over McCain/Palin ticket. What truly won me over was Biden; my dream ticket would have been Clinton/Biden, but this worked out really well!

Anyway, here's a snapshot of election night:

All night, people around me were tense with excitement. I had to work at telecounseling RIGHT when the first polls on the east coast began to close. We immediately put CNN on the computers at work, and watched the projections live. As soon as work was over, I rushed to my apartment to watch the rest of the projections. As I entered the apartment, I looked at the TV: Obama had won Ohio!!! I was so excited and immediately text my roommate, Jeanice, who was at work, but I knew wanted to know what was going on. About a half an hour later, she burst through the door with an excited look on her face. "When you text me that Obama had won Ohio....!!!" She couldn't even finish her sentence, she was so ecstatic!

10:00 came, and I was staring at the screen as my roommates rummaged through the fridge in the kitchen. Another projection came on.

"Oh, look," I said. "Another projection, and it goes to Obama."

"Who is it for?" one of my roommate asked.

I looked. Something was different. I blinked.

And then I jumped up. "OH MY GOD!" I shouted. "HE WON!!!"

"He WHAT?!?!?!"

There was running into the living room as we crowded around the screen. There is was: Obama, President-Elect.

We began to cheer. Cell phones were ringing off the hook as friends and family called each other to announce the news, to offer congratulations to each other. I called my grandmother and my 'big brother' and many other close people, shouting "Happy President!" At one point, during a conversation, I heard noises.

"Do you hear that?" I asked my roommates.

"What?" they asked.

I shushed them, and we listened. There were cheers outside. Students had rushed out to the quad and were cheering at the top of their lungs. The apartment ceilings and walls were shaking with people jumping up and down. A few minutes later and group of girls passed right by our windows, singing, "Party like Barack-Star! Party like Barack-Star!!"

It was truly... TRULY... a special night! I've seen many students get excited over silly things. But that night was truly a very American=spirited night. There is such a stereotype of our generation not caring, not doing anything about our potential leadership; but I felt Coe became very involved. I can't tell you the numerous conversations I've had with people regarding issues and politics in every aspect. I was so proud that so many of us had worked to make a difference that night, and were proud for doing so.

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!

Hey readers! I'm back!

Sorry for the huge delay in posting-- life got REALLY REALLY hectic from a particular event: Senior Seminar. So much has gone on, and instead of trying to fit it all at once, I decided I'm going to write about each topic one at a time over the next week (in order to make up for all the time I've deprived you of my adventures!). 

We'll start with Vegas. Right before Halloween (has it really been that long? wow!), the Writing Center went to LAS VEGAS, Nevada!!! Dr. Bob was taking us to the IWCA (International Writing Center Association?) conference where all these writing centers from around the nation (and world, I suppose, there were some people from London and Japan and Korea there) came and gave presentations about their writing centers.

Well! Let me tell you! I don't think I've ever been so proud to work for Coe's Writing Center as I did during this conference. There were SO many people from SO many universities there, yet when I asked almost everyone the size of their college, I found out that we were representing probably the smallest college there. But with that being said, we had the largest representation! 21 students went on this trip, along with three faculty. We were all required to presen

t a poster or seminar. Dr.

 Bob put me in charge of a team of five girls to do a poster on our Writing Fellowship Program, a program to allow incoming freshman compete to work in the writing center five hours a week in exchange for a $1000 fellowship each year. Well, needless to say, our poster was AWESOME! Not only did it look great (note the color coordination in poster in the picture; that's me talking about the program with a director of a writing center at another college), but no other writing center has this kind of program. People were really fascinated with the success of the program. ~75% of the people who now work in the Writing Center come from this Fellowship program. If you like writing and want a great way to make friends who are sociable and involved and serious about schoolwork as well as great leaders 

on campus, I recommend trying to go for this Writing Fellowship. The Writing Center has honestly been one of my greatest joys at Coe.

I learned a lot of other things at other presentations I attended. By the time the conference was done, I came out with two things: (1) Our writing center rocks. I don't know how many times people looked at my name tag with "Coe College" on it, did a double take, and said, "You're from Coe?! You guys are famous here! Oh my gosh, we hear SO much about you, you guys really know how to successfully run a writing center!", and (2) I wish we had a greater diversity of ESL students (English as a Second Language). Most of the ESL students here are Japanese, which is great, but I heard some of the difficulties with other students from other countries (such as Saudi Arabia, Korea, Thailand, countries in Africa) and wished that I could experience interactions with these people as well as study their writing.

Vegas social life: Well... Needless to

 say, Vegas is a whole new world. It's definitely NOT the Midwest! Flying over the Rockies was my favorite part of our 15-hour trips to and from (to save money, Bob drove us to Omaha, flew us to Denver, and THEN to Vegas!). Because everything is so expensive in vegas and I'm trying to save money for after college, I mostly went with friends to free events or to 

see the ridiculous resorts. Here is a pic of myself and three other WC consultants hitting up the Bellagio resort to see their autumn display. I also saw a pirate vs. sirens dance on Halloween night outside of Treasure Island, and then had a staring contest with the men of Blue Man group. It was fun! Nevertheless, there's no place like home, and after four days in Sin City... it was nice to come back to the heartland of America: Iowa. There's just something about the laid back atmosphere and "takin' it easy" ideology that suited me much more. :-)

4 days until my P Chem test, 6 days until Vegas, 12 days until the elections, and 19 days until senior seminar

OH. MY. GOD!

Talk about too busy... this would probably be the reason why I haven't posted for such a while.

I have so much going on in the next three weeks, it's quite frightening. Because the Writing Center will be going to Las Vegas next week to attend a conference on writing centers of the past and where they are going, I'm going to be missing a couple days of school... as such, I have a lot to work on. This week alone I have to finish the poster by, oh, tomorrow. My team is great so far, so I have no worries about it getting done... it's just that I'm sick and my focus is not there.

Monday I have two tests: Physical Chemistry and Macroeconomics. I'm only slightly worried about macro as there are many formulas, but I'm sure if I study hard, I'll be alright and have everything sorted out. P Chem, though.... that class frightens me.

After that I want to try to visit a friend on Tuesday. Problem is, they live two hours away. dangit.

Then there's vegas... well, that will be a nice little break from the Coe world. I've never been on a Writing Center conference before. I said to myself last year that before I graduated, I wanted to attend at least one writing center conference. About two weeks later, Bob sent out an e-mail advertising that the next conference would be in the fall in Las Vegas. Well! That's convenient. The last conference that I remember was in Kansas City. Hmmmm.... Kansas City, Vegas... yeah, I'm glad I waited.

When I get back, two exciting things will happen. (1) Election Day is that Tuesday. I am thinking about hosting a "Superbowl themed Election Party" for some friends in my apartment, where we would make snacks and prep the place for people to watch the television... except we'll be watching CNN's projections of the winner for each state. I am so excited as this is the first year I am voting for the president. (2) I register for my final courses at Coe (God-willing!). My advisor and I met today to discuss where my status was in terms of being able to graduate on time... It turns out, I am in "excellent shape to graduate in the spring". What is even better that I really only have one required course I have to take my final year, Advanced Analytical Chemistry for my Chemistry Major. Analytical and Organic Chemistry were my favorite focuses of chemistry, so this is more like an extension of something I enjoy rather than the stereotypical required class that you really don't want to take. Therefore, I can take courses that I really want to take. My advisor also agreed to let me take a course that is specifically for me. I will be doing an Independent Study in Chemistry, in which I will work with Marty to prep me for grad school. I'll be coming up with small, miniscule research projects in environmental science/chemistry and use different analytical instruments to perform this research. We're getting a couple new instruments this year as well, so it will be fun to play with them and learn something new. This is all so that when I go to grad school (God-willing as well), I'll have had a refresher and a jump start on research tools.

Then... one week later.... the big event: My Senior Seminar. Each chem major must go through this before they graduate. They must give a 40-minute seminar on a topic in chemistry to all of the chemistry professors here at Coe. The talk is also open to the public, so anyone can come and ask questions as well. I'm giving my talk on Carbon Dioxide Organic Binding Liquids-- basically, it's a way to take carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere using about 50% less energy than other methods. That, and the methods is recyclable, which is nice.... But I have to explain all the chemistry behind it, and it's very nerve-racking.

Well, on that note, I need a shower after working out for two hours in the Raquet Center today.... until next time.

The Mass E-mail Debate... Dilemma? My Thoughts During Fall Break

Coe always seems to arrange Fall Break during the peak of the fall colors. Right now I am sitting in a friend's dorm away from Coe, doing some P Chem homework, and contemplating some issues that were brought up at Coe literally the day I left...

For those of you who don't know, Coe's e-mail systems is probably the greatest thing Coe has to offer in terms of internet. It's fast and pretty reliable. I've heard of people complaining about how it doesn't allow some e-mails in or out from time to time... but honestly, I'm one of those people who can't really complain.

There is one issue, though...

Coe's e-mail system allows you to send mass e-mails, or an e-mail out to the entire student body. Most students utilize this by advertising if they lost an ID, a watch, a wallet, etc, or advertize if an events is coming up (which, that's REALLY handy for when you are done with homework and bored out of your mind... something I've never encountered while I've been in college, but I've heard it's useful for those who have!). 

But from time to time... you'll get this one e-mail... and will have some touchy subject that could be left alone... but then it stirs up some controversy and unrest in one person mind who reads it... and next thing you know, there's another mass e-mail in response to that controversial e-mail- and it contains some of their own, opinionated, controversial thoughts.... and then someone else will read it....

... and then the cycle continues, and next thing you know: it's a mass e-mail war!! 

This happens many times during the school year, and in some cases, it's fun to watch, and in other cases, it just gets plain annoying to have your e-mail box flooded with all these thoughts not pertaining to you personally. 

Well, needless to say, this year: that first pissed-off person was me.

The Cosmos-- our school newspaper-- has started a section of the newspaper called "The Minority Corner" at the request of a group of minority students on campus who have felt underrepresented. Now, I don't consider myself racially a minority, but some people do. If I had to think about it and decide, perhaps I'm a minority because I'm amongst barely a handful of Muslim students on campus. However, I never felt a burden to bear at Coe because of it. Yes, at times, especially during Ramadan, I feel frustrated about certain things (like having to keep up with the pace when my body is telling me to slow down... for 30 days *rolling eyes*). 

But all in all, being completely honest-- I've felt really appreciated for coming to Coe, and really safe. I felt that having something about myself that was different was cherished by others, that they appreciated what I had brought to the table. Over my four years at Coe, I only had one person who made me feel discriminated against becase I was Muslim; and even then, they are considered an ignorant, inconsiderate *bleep!* on campus, so it didn't get to me too personally. However, most students I have talked to on campus have felt pretty sheltered and suppported. Thus, it made me wonder why this group felt that they were being put through struggles at this college...?

Needless to say, there was a mass e-mail sent out by one girl in particular accusing the Cosmos of editing her article and for people not caring about racial issues on campus. Yes, the pissed off person was me, and I wrote back defending my college of its stance on creating opportunities for minorities and for embracing different cultures. For crying out loud, I was even on the scholarship committees for the Diversity Scholarship for the past two years! I didn't know why some students felt there was a "problem". 

Let's cut to the end: 39 e-mails were sent out in response to this issue. That is more than I have ever counted in a 24-hour period before. I guess it's good that students are talking about this issue... yet, as a person who never really fit anywhere to begin with -- and not in a bad way, mind you-- it made me worried that about HOW people chose their words and how something that I felt wasn't an issue was made into an issue.

So should mass e-mails be left to do things like this? Should we be allowed to exude our opinion upon everyone because we have the means at hand. My answer is yes. There's freedom of speech occuring in my inbox, and it's forcing me to read 39 opinions of an issue that I hadn't thought existed. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't... but point being that in a country where, to quote a politician, "people are exchanging freedoms for the promise of security", I think we need to keep this freedom of speech going as long as possible... even if it is clogging up my inbox. :-)

Still... I just wish the instigators of this debate on campus would have chosen more constructive words!!

Never Pass Up a Moment to Punch Your Professor

Going into my fourth year at Coe, I've realized that SOMETHING always happens each week when you're in college- whether it be academic, social, or internal.

A few weeks ago, it was something situational. I'll spare you the details, and just let you know that I was not in the best of moods and was taking it out on my hardest class with my hardest professor. I came to class ticked off, didn't know what was going on, and honestly, I was behind. The material was tough, and having issues going on in my life combined with the stresses from Ramadan wasn't helping. I was mad at the school system as well-- at other Islamic schools across the country, students had half days for school with reduced workload to accomodate for Ramadan. It was made up by a more rigorous class schedule during the year, and about two weeks extra of class. I didn't care about the two weeks extra class at the time, so long as I could be cut some slack from the fatigue I was feeling. It's hard watching students around me keep pace and live normally while I'm a little behind because, well, I'm usually tired and can't focus. And I'm just practicing my religion here...

Well, needless to say, my professor noticed. One day, he tracked me down and asked what was up. I didn't really want to say, but ended up pouring out a bunch of frustrations. The pouring out was a help, though to be honest I felt a little weird afterwards because I hadn't wanted to tell him, per say. However, after a little thought, I realized that this was not the only time this professor had come through for me:

Last year I had just fished an organic chem test, and was walking to the Writing Center for my shift. I was frustrated. I felt that I had known the material like the back of my hand, having studied for two weeks prior; but the test was still challenging. It's very hard for me to hide ANY emotion I'm feeling, and as such, my professor, who was getting coffee from the Writing Center, noticed my frustration as I walked in.

He asked, yet again, what was up, and I went on a huge rant about trying my best and feeling like I got everything wrong.

"Man, that sucks," he said. "Makes you just want to punch something, doesn't it?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

He moved to the side and offered me his arm. "Here ya go. I know I'm gonna regret this."

I was confused, but then, suddenly, I just punched his arm. Hard. Amazing! I hate to say it, but the thought that I had just punched my professor and wasn't going to get in trouble for it made me happy. Had it been anyone else, I probably wouldn't have taken them up on it. But how often do you get to say, "I punched my professor" and actually mean it?

I'm not advocating violence in any way, mind you. However, I am grateful to the professor who was able to take a frustrating experience and make it into a laughable memory.

And, I ended up doing well on that particular test. :-)

The Camping Itch

I'm an outdoors girl.

More like an adventure girl.

I always felt that by saying "I'm an outdoorsman", one would get the vision of a person dressed in camouflage, sporting a rifle in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. But if you say, "I'm all about adventure", you see a person paddling hard on the whitewater rapids, galloping quickly through fields and forest, swimming and splashing in a river with friends, and sleeping under that stars on a hammock at night.

Thus, I'm the adventure girl.

This past weekend I was driving to Ames, IA. It was the first time I was driving a long distance during the day. I watched Iowa pass by me; I saw the blend of the agriculture and the prairie, and I once again experienced a magnificent sunset.

If there is one thing I have had more exposure to in my life than any other place, it's the sunsets.

So anyway, I was getting a feeling of deja vu. Whenever close friends and I from Coe or anywhere else would pile in the car and go on another camping adventure, there's always the 'road trip'. Even if the 'road trip' is only a half an hour, you never miss out on the tingling anticipation on the way there, or the pull of nature and everlasting memories as you leave. It's almost as if the 'road trip' is longer than the camping experience itself.

Here's a pic of my friend Erin and Ted prepping for the 'road trip'. 

I was getting that 'road trip' feeling as I was driving into Iowa. It made me think of the greatest moments in life being on the camping trips:

Jumping in the Wapsipinicon river and losing glasses, eating homemade trail mix, staying up until 4 am to have the most silly and most meaningful conversations, mistaking boulders for bears, actually stumbling across bears (!!!), running through the campground shouting "giggity!" at the top of their lungs, splunking, kayacking, snorkeling Devil's Lake, having breakfast pancake mix wars, forgetting firewood- twice,  cheating by throwing futon mattresses in the tent for "luxury camping", "roughing it" and having to clear the land with a weed whacker and getting firewood with a chainsaw, shooting cans, making s'mores, ... the list goes on and on.

 

Pancake Wars.

It's the little things in life that make it worth it, especially when things are tough. These moments took only minutes, seconds, hours... but they have made me feel like my life is one of the greatest in the world. 

It's probably because camping is such a connection with the world. We can only be engaged with society for so long- with the classrooms, studying, socializing, studying, shopping, studying, research, studying, networking... did i mention studying? We can only take so much before we need to escape. Escape to relax, make ourselves center, actually think without everything going too fast around us. It's as if nature is taking us in the palm of its hand, and just cradling us while we remember who we are and why we live.

Damn...I miss camping. 

One of the best camping trips--ever. 

Hi, i'm Sakinah. And it's Ramadan

Hi, I'm Sakinah.

I suppose if you're going to be reading my posts, we ought to get to know each other. Or, in this case, you can get to know me. I suppose I'll never really get to know the people who are reading my thoughts each week; but who knows. Maybe if you stumble across Coe one day, you can introduce yourself and we can have an awkward moment of you knowing me but me knowing nothing about you. Anyway.

I'm a senior here at Coe this year. Yep... final year. Provided I can get through the hardest course known to man-- Physical Chemistry. And with that, I should probably inform you that I am a Chemistry and Environmental Science major, with a potential minor in mathematics. No, I'm not sure what i was thinking when I signed up for this. Maybe a job.

Ramadan started just last Labor Day, on September 1st. For the first two days, I was traveling, so I was "exempt" from fasting, if you will. But as soon as school started, the fasting began. 

It's interesting going through the fasting process now that I'm in an apartment. In the past, I would wake up in the morning and have whatever i could fit into my tiny dorm fridge and whatever I could throw into the microwave. It wasn't bad; but it didn't have the home feeling that I was used to from Ramadans past. Nevertheless, this year is a lot better. I can wake up in the apartment, and be able to cook for myself, and for iftar, or the break fast, I don't have to rely on the cafeteria's hot meal hours (which end at 7, despite the fact that I can only start eating around 7:15, 7:30). I can now cook whatever meals I want, and be able to adjust my diet so that I'm getting what I want to eat.

The studying it harder, I'm not going to lie. I suppose this is probably because in the late afternoon you start to lose focus; that and in college, every student is busy 24/7, and when you have a cut back on your daily nutritional intake, there's an effect. It makes me wonder what it would be like if they actually did cut school to half days, if that would make a difference.

At this point, any adjustment in my favor would make a difference.