#synapticstigma

I'M SORRY :( I EVEN GO RUNNING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD ACROSS FROM US BECAUSE MINE HAS TOO MANY DESI/MUSLIMS FOR ME TO FEEL COMFORTABLE. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE HOW RESTRICTED YOU FEEL :(

duuuuuude tell me about it, my dad's always asking me repeatedly to run outside instead of using the treadmill in the garage and i'm just like I CAN'T >.<

There are few important people in my life, and I don't feel as if those important people ever really realize how important they really are to me. I'm not one to jump and stand up for you right away. I'm not the one who asks "how is your day?"

Let me tell you about two very important and amazing people.

We'll start out with who came first.

Flashback. First grade. My dad tells me he met a dad at school who has a kid named Unza and apparently, she's in the same class as me.

I didn't know I had guts back in first grade, but apparently, I did because I tapped this girl named Unza on the back(she sat in front of me. coincidence? I THINK NOT), and told her, "My dad knows your dad."

Don't look at me like that. I totally knew how to make friends, ok, because to this day, I am still close friends with her. We've been through 3-hour phone calls and awkward dawats and picnic trips and meeting cute ski instructors. And I feel like I can trust this girl with anything.

Besides that, she's amazing mashAllah.

IN EVERY WAY. NO JOKE. 

She is HILARIOUS. INTELLIGENTLY HILARIOUS. 

She is GORGEOUS. Come on, she has her own signature Unza-face. Only gorgeous people have that.

She is SMART. Hella smart. She knows the anatomy of the human body, and what drug she'd take if she could(what more do you need to know?).  Hella determined. She is going somewhere in life, and she knows how to do it, and I look up to her for that.

She is a sweet-heart. Like deep-down under all that sass, she is genuine and sweet and will always say something nice and encouraging and gosh, you're missing out if you don't know her, okay?

---

Okay, so this other girl stood up among a group of kids running for third grade president that were using donuts and candy and no homework to bribe us and advised us to choose the kid who was running based on good causes.

Who does that in 3rd grade? I mean, as if. I want donuts every Monday, okay?

But to this day, I still regret voting for the kid who said he'd convince the teachers to give us no homework.

Because this girl was right, and she's always right to this day.

I don't remember where we started. PSIA competitions maybe. Arabic class, too.

And...and...

Afia's perfect.

no seriously. I've seen her breakdowns and when she's a mess and when does stupid things.

but she's still perfect, mashAllah.

Do I understand it? Nope. Not at all. She gets her scarf at a perfect angle. She gets everything in class even if she doesn't do good on tests. She was able to memorize the entire Qur'an and come back right back on top. She is one of those people that I see changing the world on a LARGE scale.

---

And I could go on about these two. I could list the parallels between them. How inspiring they are to me.

But eh, it's 11:59.

Happy 18th Birthday you guys!

Go be legal and jump off of planes 10,000 feet in air and get your licenses and buy sharpies and vote and continue to tinker between this weird seesaw of being adult and being a kid :)