MAJOR LIFE UPDATE! (Exams, School, Eid, Palestine)

It’s been forever since I sat down and penned something down. I tried to a few weeks back, but with everything going on around me, plus with how unpredictable life seems to be turning out, my brain has been on and off.

The whole break happened because of how busy online school got to be honest, I barely had time to gasp for breath, projects clashed, and my Teams call schedule was brimming with calls that needed urgent attention. And I did what I do best prioritizing my work and working accordingly. Then the mocks happened and before I knew it, it was time for finals, by that time Covid-19 in Sri lanka was picking up again. I was mentally and physically exhausted. Still pushed ahead, cause no matter how I felt on the inside, life had to continue, I had to move.

Glimpse into my night life, during the exams!

4^th of May, my first AS paper (Pure Mathematics), began marking the many more to come, I went, did it with a mask on, plus not to mention the extra distancing, came home, and was exhausted all over again. The next paper was Chemistry, Paper 2, and it was to be held on the 10^th, but unfortunately or fortunately for some, on the 7^th of May Cambridge International Examinations called off all the running exam series in Sri Lanka, due to the growth in Covid-19 cases. All my hard work, evaporated gradually from my brain and I will have to condense the information in for a “future series”.

I am not going to waste my energy typing about Cambridge International, all I can say is they should have been prepared for better, when most exam boards called off their exams they went ahead. I would most probably have to do my AS papers for chemistry and biology either in October/ November or next year. As for that math paper I did, in case you are curious, Cambridge will give me a grade and not a two-digit number, based on that one paper for the subject Mathematics, (the subject also includes a statistics paper, but it wouldn’t be needed). An invisible virus has turned my education into a joke.

School is closed again, and I highly doubt that it will open anytime soon, as the country situation with regards to Covid is not in any sense getting better. My senior year will most probably start next month in June and I really hope to make the most of it! Some of my family members received the Covishield vaccine, which was given to Sri lanka by India. They received the first dose and it’s been well over 3.5 months but talks of them receiving the second dose seem unlikely of happening. The Sinopharm vaccine is now being administrated and I pray that the second dose arrives on time and is injected.

Eid Mubarak! I am probably a bit late on that. Sri Lanka celebrated Eid on Friday, the 14^th, Allhamdulliah (all praise is to God). We were asked to stay at home as travel restrictions were imposed and it was almost similar to that of a curfew. I made Gulab jamun and brownies, the Gulab jamun turned out great, the brownies on the other hand not so well! We got lunch ordered and my Grandpa conducted the Eid payers at home. It was upsetting that we weren’t able to visit and meet our relatives, but it’s for the best. Safety should be our top priority. The hospitals in Sri Lanka are under strain as well, with about 2000+ cases being reported every day, may God make it easy on us and remove this virus from the face of the earth.

The world is in chaos and scrolling through the news and YouTube has genuinely become agonizing, the amount of suffering that countries, races, and humans are going through is simply uncalled for. For me at least, as the youth of the future, the lack of accountability that people in power seem to be facing right now is alarming. Ever since I was a kid, one thing I have always stood for is justice and for me to not see it happening is frustrating. What is happening in Palestine needs to stop, blood shed needs to stop, forced + illegal evictions need to stop, attacks on prayer sites need to stop, bombing on residential buildings need to stop, restriction of the media needs to stop. Freedom must prevail, peace needs to prevail, justice for all those innocent civilians need to prevail. It was Eid a few days back, and to be honest I couldn’t celebrate it, because I was privileged and the ones in Palestine weren’t. It was my mother’s birthday a few days back, and I didn’t feel the joy, how many children in Palestine have lost their mothers in the past few day, how many mothers would have lost their children in the past few days. The fact that the Palestinians suffering hasn’t been the only thing I have been thinking about the past few years, makes this situation upsetting. The suffering of people at the hands of people in power has been a continuous vicious cycle, especially the suffering imposed on the Muslims, we have the Uyghurs, the Rohingyas, and now the Palestinians. Someone needs to stand up and the least I can do is raise awareness! Our world leaders need to stand up and protect the rights of all people, despite race, colour and religion. You need not be from that specific community to speak up, you just need to be human.

Raise awareness and pray for the people of Palestine!

What my desktop looks like right now!

I redesigned my desktop wallpaper using canva, I am not completely done with it per say, but eventually making changes, Insha Allah (God willing). I tried doing more journaling as well, but gosh, my perfectionism is getting in the way! Await more posts on this blog, I have a few ideas! Signing off, Nabeeha Jameel!