full name: maryam joyce date of birth: 11 april 1990 gender & pronouns: cis woman, she/her
sexuality: bisexual & biromantic occupation: university lecturer time in london: the last four years + between the ages of 18 and 22 height: 5â˛10â˛â hair colour & style: dark brown, wavy, a bit past her shoulders eye colour: dark brown
click here for maryamâs pinterest!
trigger warning for mentions of religion
maryam was born and raised in the town of stroud, gloucestershire, around ten miles from gloucester. hers was a happy, almost idyllic childhood spent playing in the sprawling gardens of the family home with her older sister and two younger brothers. while maryamâs sister is technically a half-sister - sheâs from her motherâs previous relationship - they never made that distinction.Â
her parents had a bit of a whirlwind romance that resulted in thirty-four years of marriage and counting. her muslim father is originally from saudi arabia and arrived to the uk for his physics phd. he ended up really hitting it off with the woman working at the universityâs reception on his very first day. maryamâs mother was from a family of anglican churchgoer and a recently divorced single mum. the two married just a year after they first met and welcomed little baby maryam ten months after the wedding.
while the household didnât necessarily seem all that outwardly pious to outsiders. religion was always a big part of the family dynamic and something that was discussed often and in great length. maryam was a curious child and loved getting involved in these conversations, even when the concepts seemed far too complicated for her. she loved lingering in doorways when her parents had friends over, keen on sharing her opinions and the facts she had so meticulously taught herself.
she was a bright student and went on to attend an all-girls grammar school. she didnât necessarily love it and despite doing well academically, often struggled with the social aspect of high school. she was kind of an awkward, gangly teen who spoke too little or far too much and couldnât really figure out what her crowd was for quite a while. she eventually befriended a group of girls, some of whom sheâs still in contact with to this day.
maryam moved to london at the age of 18 to attend the university of roehampton. she went on to receiver her bachelorâs degree in philosophy, religion and ethics before completing her masterâs in theology and religious studies. while in london, she shared a flat with a fellow uni student. their friendship blossomed into a romance of sorts even though they never officially dated. the situation was fairly messy, but maryam has a lot of fond memories of this time as the relationship taught her a great deal. theyâre still friendly with each other and meet up from time to time to laugh at their past shenanigans. Â
after graduating, she moved back to gloucestershire and worked as a substitute teacher for a bit before heading to bangor, wales for her phd in philosophy and religion. her thesis on the philosophy of religiously unaffiliated spirituality garnered praise and solidified her decision to pursue a career in academia.Â
she moved to notting hill and started working as a lecturer at kingâs college london around four years ago. she mainly teaches and researches sociology of religion, including the intersectionality of religion and identity. hopes to land the job of a senior lecturer in the near future, and canât really imagine doing anything else.Â
she shares a small two-bedroom home with a flatmate and her two beloved cats. london is obviously ridiculously expensive, but maryam also genuinely likes sharing her space. she knows she wouldnât like living all by herself all that much. in fact, she has never actually lived alone as she has always either lived with her family or a flatmate.Â
maryam is bilingual and grew up speaking arabic with her father. sheâs also fluent in french and studied hebrew, ancient greek and latin during her studies. her streak on duolingo is over two years long, but she doesnât take it all that seriously. she just really likes mobile games and this one just happens to teach her languages, making it a little more productive than candy crush.
an avid collector of all sorts of trinkets, maryam does not vibe with the minimalist aesthetic. her bedroom is full of knickknacks and keepsakes. she also collects books and dreams of being the sort of person who actually reads the books she buys. to be fair, she does read a lot, but itâs mostly stuff related to her research or the lectures sheâs planning. all the new, exciting fiction books have gone unread for years. this fact has not slowed down her buying habits, though.
sheâs a bit of a chaos academic. sheâs genuinely passionate about her work and believes sheâs doing something important and meaningful, but that absolutely does not mean she does it gracefully or without intense procrastination and sleepless nights.Â
and here are some super basic connection ideas for anyone interested!
childhood friends! they could be from stroud as well, but maryam also spent most of her childhood summers in cornwall. a friendship where they met every summer for years could be super cute, especially if they fell out of touch and just reconnected!
she has loads of cousins from her mumâs side, so those are always welcome.Â
along the same line, a childhood pen pal! since maryam had trouble making friends as a teenager, she poured out her heart to her pen pal. i would imagine they stopped writing at some point but remained facebook friends or something like that.Â
people she met during university, either in london or in bangor. could be fellow uni students or just folks who happened to live in either of the cities.Â
maryamâs certainly not looking for the one or anything like that, but she does like going on dates and meeting new people. could be of any gender.Â














