Ann Arbor, Michigan

I have visited Edda and Amirah Amer!

It's such another level of happiness

to be able to visit my best friends' universities

and it's in different countries.

If other people's aims were

to conquer the world,

I want to specifically visit all of my friends'

universities or places.

It's such a beautiful thing

to be able to learn how they live their daily life,

know where they study.

We used to study at the same school or college

and now, we're separated by geography.

I certainly feel like

it's not a bad thing,

but the best thing that could happen to our friendships.

We can visit each other and travel;

it comes in a package.

So

Ottawa

Toronto

Michigan

Auckland

Adelaide

Vancouver

Brisbane

The UK

Spain

Virginia

Tulsa

Seattle

Vanderbilt

(much more in the states)

China

France

Germany

India

Ireland

The only things I have to invest are money on the flight tickets and money on the food.

Accommodation is well-prepared aha!

I have a new vlog!

Hey! After 3 years of silence!

Hehe,

I decided to do one!

Hope you like it :)

Tell me any topics that you want me to share in my future vlogs <3

Love,

Aliah

Forgiveness

Oh well,

I sounded so sad and pathetic, ey?

It's just a phase in life,

where everything happens at once.

But based on my understanding 

of the khutbah that I listened to just now;

I didn't istighfar enough in life.

That's why I felt there's something holding my back,

I feel heavyhearted. 

Maybe this will be a lesson for me,

and you.

Istighfar, 

seek forgiveness for our sins.

Because sometimes, sadness results from the sins we have committed.

#friendlyreminderforyouandme

Not My Thing

Tbh, 

I am not the type of person that works hard 

to be praised.

I don't put efforts to be admired.

I don't like the idea of putting my efforts 

into things because I want to have a certain reputation in people's eyes.

I hate it when people judge me that way.

When I was about to be given certain position,

I would be doubting myself.

I never think or feel like I am good enough for the position.

Allah has blessed me with so many things in life.

Everything went smoothly

until I have to make decisions on something.

I am stuck,

between something I like,

or something I should do.

Do I need to sacrifice again for others' benefit?

I feel like my life now

is all about sacrificing myself.

I don't really mind tho,

a 'thank you' is enough for me.

A title is not a recognition of what you've done,

it comes with responsibility.

I don't think I am good enough to handle those things.

People always say to me,

oh, you'll forever be unready.

True.

But I have my personal experiences,

I know myself well to determine 

whether I am ready or not for this responsibility.

Really,

I don't mind sacrificing my time and energy 

to do certain things.

But I don't do it for a title.

I do it because I am sincere to do it, 

I love doing it.

I enjoy doing it.

It is just my thing

to do something without demanding

for recognitions.

&

If you forgot

or didn't know;

I live by this principle.

"I don't want my presence to be applauded,

but my absence to be felt."

Two Extreme

Living in the modern life, I realized that people can just go to two extremes.

They either study too hard or party too hard.

They just do not have balance in life anymore.

 Especially in the Western countries.

I become stressful when people around me are just studying to the extreme.

The weather too is just two extremes; too cold or too hot.

My lecturer has a point there.

I just met my lecturer and thank her for teaching etc

And she was sharing with me about her insight on Western life.

Then, I learn something in my religious and ethics class.

One group of people will fight and risk their life for the betterment of the world, the could risk their dollars and titles to fight for the truth.

And there will be another group of people that will lie and deny every evidence proven how certain projects will harm people.

Money is really nothing, it is created by human.

With power and money, one can control the 'truth'.

Because one has money, he has power. When he's powerful, he can gain money. With the power he has, he gets to say what is the truth, what is not. He gets to control the media. Media spreads 'facts' and because it is on media, people will believe in it.

Some people choose to shut their mouth because they do not wanna lose their money, because they value what they have now, instead of saying the truth.

No matter how many people are protesting against something that is wrong in the society, those who are in power will always have the say over the decision.

Is this democracy? Oh very.