Obaid's Mecca

Dear Past Self, I just want to say that I'm proud of how far you've progressed over the years. I remember you in high school, dreading to start writing any paper because you knew your writing was no good. Your standardized English scores were consistently low, but you had potential. But then, you started to care about the way your writing was, and you began to put more thought into it. You cared about not only what you expressed on paper, but also how it was expressed. You tried at spoken word and discovered that you weren't terrible at it. Then you tried at short stories and began to improve.  This picture is going to make a lot more sense to you as you progress through this class. No more of that start-the-paper-the-night-before-and-not-revise-it habit. You will learn the value of revising your work, and that you will always have more room for improvement. I even shared my microtheme  with the entire class to get feedback on my work, which is something...

1. I got married at 18 I met my wife in high school, and no it was not arranged. 2. I've memorized the entire Holy Quran Six hundred pages of pure Arabic. It took me two and a half years (full-time), but I was able to do it. It was a religious choice that I decided to do with a few of my friends. 3. I have six other siblings I am one of seven children and second in order. My older sister is twenty-three and my youngest sibling is a toddler. 4. I am multilingual.  I speak English and Urdu fluently, and I've learned enough Spanish and Arabic to hold my own in conversations with native speakers. 5. I have never shaved my beard. My beard has been growing since I was fifteen and I have never shaved it since. I occasionally trim it and shape it to keep it tamed, but never used a razor to get rid of it. I think I've forgotten how my chin looks!

Dear Self, Although as finals week may sound scary, I know that the final weeks are even more stressful. With due dates, final examinations, studying, and borderline grades hovering over your head, things can become very overwhelming. On top of all that, being married, having a part-time job, and looking to move doesn't make things any easier. But relax. Remember God. Give it your best. Know that the finals and assignments will all come to an end, and you'll have your satisfying exhale of relief. You've gone through times that have been worse and tasted the sweet sense of relaxation that comes afterward. Use that as the motivation that drives you and allows you to grind through what's left. Be confident in yourself and focus. You've got a goal to reach, and you will reach it. You got this. Sincerely, Obaid P.S. If you ever need any extra, epic motivation, and to be reminded of your dream, watch the embedded video.

(Don't worry, I won't spoil anything) Before this movie even came out, I was extremely excited for its release and would read up on any details about the release date. Before the trailer had even been released online, I found out that it was shown in a D23 Expo, so that day, I searched everywhere I could for the leaked version of it. Someone had to be recording it discreetly, right? Sure enough, I found this lob-sided, color-altered, duo-screen, and camera-recorded version of it online (How-to-Avoid-Using-Copyright 101), and I enjoyed every second of it. As you can tell, I am a huge Marvel fan and also very easily entertained. So, I found this movie to be amazing. The thrill, the suspense, the action, the emotions, and the plot all had me captivated. I definitely rate this a 10/10 and would recommend it. Others complain about the ending and how a certain aspect of the plot could have been better, but I appreciated its originality. Now for the next year, I'll be on t...

If I told you that I have always been interested in Biology my entire life, I would be lying to you. Biology, along with History, used to be my least favorite subjects in middle school and high school. It wasn't until recently that I became interested in the subject. After my first semester in college, I decided that maybe I should go into a stable profession because I value structure and stability immensely. So, the healthcare field seemed like a safe bet.  Therefore, I decided to try an EMT course that a friend of mine had recommended. The thing that really got my attention was that EMT's get to drive the ambulance. Of course, it turned out to be a whole lot more than just driving an ambulance. I learned basic anatomy and physiology, basic medical procedures, and some insight as to how the healthcare field operates. Although the class was a 10-credit-hour class, I came out of it having loved it and appreciative of the knowledge it exposed me to. I found the human bo...

MIST Chicago, also known as the "Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament," is an annual event that brings many MSA clubs at different schools together in a competitive environment. The weekend-long event includes competitions like Basketball, Quiz Bowl, Short Film, 3-D Art, and much more. In my high school years, I competed in various competitions such as 2D Art, Spoken Word, and Nasheed, which is a type of religious singing that involves only vocals. It was always such a great experience because it was such a powerful way for me to get creative and grow as a singer, Muslim, and even a person. Now that I'm out of high school, I wanted to participate in MIST in a different way. This year, I was given the honor to judge some of the competitions that I once competed in. It was interesting to see the next generation of students become so involved, excited, and nervous to compete, and it reminded me a lot of myself when I was in their shoes. 

Where do I see myself in ten years? This is a question I've asked myself many times since starting college. The future is scary in that it is so unexpected. I've learned that failure can come easily to those who take the future lightly. The only way to prevent future failures to the best of our ability, however, is to plan. I believe that planning is a major key to success, and that is why I spend a significant amount of time simply planning my actions beforehand. Before writing a paper or going about my week, I make it a point to map out the things that I need to be done. As it stands, I am on track to graduate from Lewis and start medical school at LECOM in Pennsylvania. Having a set path to becoming a doctor has helped me stay focused and driven me in terms of my studies. In ten years, I can see myself hard at work as a Medical Resident, finishing up my residency and begin working as a full-fledged physician. I respect the future and what surprises it may hold for me, bu...

For most of my life, I would only draw by looking directly at a picture or object and try to recreate it as realistically as I can. (Later, I found out that that was actually termed  realism.) Although in high school I took a drawing class for a semester, I wasn't too familiar with the more formal techniques of drawing. It wasn't until this semester that I thought, "Why don't I just learn how to draw better?" So I simply YouTube'd "how to draw" and was led to this video series. This video series of six videos, although not that long (about 10-20 minutes apiece), completely changed the way I draw. I was now able to somewhat create my own figures and characters imaginatively, rather than having to look at people and fail at drawing them. I would definitely recommend this series to anybody who is interested in drawing or even interested in starting. The man in the video, Jazza, is an amazing  artist (that's why he started his own mini-serie...

The following is a short poem that I wrote in high school regarding the promise of the UN of, "Never Again," wherein the United Nations claimed they would work to never allow something like the Holocaust to ever occur. Here are my thoughts: Usually when we think of the term genocide, We think of the millions of Jews. The ones that for their life they would try to hide - the ones that were inhumanely abused. The ones that, like you and I, Had a home, a family, and friends. The ones that did more than cry, seeing all of them meeting their ends. The ones that were forced to suffer, because they were seen as different or impure. Just because a man thought he was tougher, extreme hardships they had to endure. The ones that were put in concentration camps competing just to live. Just to be put in our place, imagine what they’d give. The ones that in extreme numbers and groups. were tortured, burned, and killed. With bullets or with ga...

This is a vlog (video blog) of my wife, Aamrah, and I traveling to three different states over this past spring break - Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. We made it just out of enjoyment, not out of any serious vlogging commitment or competition. It shows various highlights of our trip and some scenic places that we come across. We began our trip in Las Vegas and toured the city for the duration of a morning. Then, we traveled to Utah, headed for Zion National Park Service. Before planning for this trip, I had never heard of Zion, but in my opinion, I found it to be underrated. I feel as if it was overshadowed by the Grand Canyon because that is the main site that is talked about in the Arizona/Utah region. It had a very immersive mountain experience with hiking trips as short as an hour and as long as 8 hours. After Zion, we drove East and stayed in Page, Arizona. Then, we drove South to the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon. After visiting that, on Day Four of our trip, we made our way ...

  Here are some examples of my previous drawings: 1) is a drawing of Derrick Rose (before his injuries 😭) 2) is a charcoal, still-life drawing and 3) is a drawing of the holiest site on Earth according to the Islamic tradition, the Kabah in Mecca.

This is an advertisement by the mobile service company, Metro PCS, that I found to be very creative and funny. In it, the narrator is mocking Sprint's network speed in order to strengthen Metro PCS' authenticity (ethos). The advertisement effectively uses humor as a tool to appeal to pathos. Also, by depicting a man clearly upset due to the speed of his network right before displaying "Metro PCS", the ad appeals to logos.  Enjoy!

I'll be honest right off the bat. I was not as impressed by the movie as I was made to be. Meaning, the movie was overhyped for me, so I went into it waiting for an unimaginable twist or a mind-blowing event, but the movie ended by then. Had I gone in with lower expectations, I'm certain I would have loved the experience more because, don't get me wrong,  it was an  amazing  movie!  Cinematics, plot, acting, and soundtrack were all captivating and impressive! My one advice to the person who hasn't watched this movie it to go into the experience with lower expectations and you will truly enjoy it.

I chose this picture as the background to my blog because it is a pencil drawing of the interior of a mosque, and I sensed that it said things about me: 1) I felt it was able to depict the idea that I am fond of art and drawing. Also, it communicates that I enjoy trying at my creativity and personalizing what is mine. I hope to, as time passes, become even more creative with my blog by experimenting with fonts , sizes, and c o l o r s. 2) Like I mentioned in my previous post, this being an Islamic structure, it is especially meaningful to me.

I named my blog using the word "Mecca" because of the two meanings that it brings to the table: 1) "A mecca" is said to be a place that attracts many visitors; therefore, calling my blog a mecca implies that people will one day be attracted towards it, giving me a motive to actually put some thought into what I write. 2) The former term was derived from the city of Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), and the way millions of Muslims visit it every year (as depicted above, wherein lines of people are praying around the Kabah, the holiest Islamic site in the world). This meaning of the word holds meaning to me as I see Islam to play a huge role in the way I live my everyday life and interact with others.

1) In the film, there is a scene where it shows the chimpanzees being transported to a medical facility where they would perform experiments on primates (literally called the   Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates ), and these chimpanzees would be sedated and kept in isolated cages . It seemed that back in the time this incident occurred, roughly 1987, not many people were extremely concerned with animal cruelty. However, one of the researchers from the facility that Nim, the chimpanzee around whom this documentary was filmed and titled, was previously transferred from, worked hard to get a lawyer to threaten the facility that he will take the case of animal cruelty against Nim to the supreme court. This was specifically in regards to Nim because - without giving away the plot of the entire film - he was raised up with humans and shared their emotions of fear, love, and pain, etc. He was eventually bought by a group that was dedicated to protecting wildlif...