HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYRRELL!

AAAh, today is a special day --- it is TYRRELL's birthday ... so, everybody --- send the good wishes her way!

Missin' my boys ...

Just realized that I've been really bad about posting pics ... and since I was missin' the boys, I thought these were apt...

Crashed and Burned

I knew that I'd be called on today in Legal Process [aka Civil Procedure] - and I knew that because the assigned case is so confusing, and I was totally not ready to go under Prof. Buchele's firing - hence, there was no way that I would get away from that. As Prof. Buchele walked in, he said - "I've recieved three passes today [we're entitled to one pass in the whole semester, for three people to exercise them in the first 6 weeks shows how daunting this particular case was], and two of them were on my list." His first victim was Hamid who held his own pretty well I thought, and I was in two minds - Hamid's last name is a mouthful - would Prof. Buchele take the plunge and go for two tough names in the same day? Well, he did - right after Hamid sat down - he says, I know I'm slaughtering this name, so forgive me - and I'm like - ok, thats me. "Ms. Iqbal" Sure enough it was.

I haul myself up, and can feel the blood rushing from my head down to my feet ... taking any knowledge that I had with it. Forgot to mention - Prof. Buchele makes you stand up when you answer his questions. I barely even heard his first couple of questions, and basically was flipping pages furiously to find his answers ... to no avail. Alhamdullilah, I did settle in an was able to look him in the eye and give my answers ... with alot of ums, buts, and what is that words in between ... but I'll say this, as FREAKED out as I was standing there with nothing to say, Prof. Buchele's really cool - I definately got the vibe that he recognized my nervousness/fear and was trying to convey that it was ok, and his demeanor is very comforting ... regardless of how cool Buchele is, and the fact that I managed to rescue some [although very little] of my self dignity - I definately crashed and burned.

Good that came out of it - at least I'm done for the time being, and I don't have to worry about being called on for at least a week, and my buddies [Brandon, Jeff and James] really rallied around me to make me feel better, emphasizing that they were tough questions and it was a tough case, AND that showing up is half the battle ... but, I still maintain that I definately crashed and burned.

Interestingly enough, it took me back to the basketball days - back in the day, back in the homeland - when I started to play "competatively" I sucked big time ... and the first two months worth of games were HORRIBLE - constant calls for travelling, missed shots, getting the rebounds pulled out of my hands. I could barely pick myself back up, was SO disappointed in myself. However, I worked at it and it all culminated in one moment, one morning during practice where I probably had the best practice of my life ... and it was all worth it. InshaAllah this will turn out to be as successful as my short lived basketball career [hopefully not as short lived!], if I put in those hours of practice ... no mercy, all sacrifice - this is it.
~~ treat practice like its the real thing ~~

Approximately 75 days.
And go ...

rough week

Law school has gotten exponentially more intense in the last week. It was tough the first week just becuase I was settling in and dealing wiht some major homesickness battles ... but classes were good, I knew what was going on, etc.

Now ... I just don't know. I'm fighting an internal battle ... one minute, I'm comfortable with the amount of work I've put into the reading, I'm prepared for class, I can take this one day at a time, alhamdullilah all is good ... and literally the next second, I'm panicked - oh my God ... why am I not working, I'm so not prepared, I have no idea whats going on, I HAVE to do well on that exam ["that" exam is not for another 10 weeks] - but how am I gonna do it ... what if I don't make it ... oh man, I should quit RIGHT NOW ... put myself out of this misery.

I suppose as the semester wears on, the battles are going to intensify ... and that is where the real pressure of law school begins. I'm beginning to realize that Law School is tough, not just because of the amount of information that you have to absorb and be able to analyze, or because of the crazy type-A's that make you feel like you're a complete idiot --- but also because we all put SO much pressure on our selves ... or maybe thats just me. But I don't think that I'm the only one fighting this battle ... at least I hope I'm not. I think thats the real battle of law school -- keeping it objective, keeping the balance - not letting the crazies get to you, and more importantly, not letting yourself get to you.

Bottom line is - the first four months of law school are the most important four months of your law school career. Not because Fall grades are the only ones that people look at ... well, partly, but I think its more important because the fall is when you create the foundation ... how to read a case, how to analyze a case, how to write a brief, how to half-ass an answer when you're caught off guard, how not be caught off guard ever again ... it takes time, and for four months - heck, I can sacrifice sometime to figure this stuff out, right?

Sadly, its really not as easy as that ... but you know what, I'm sure as heck gonna try. So, wish me luck, PLEASE keep me in your duas ... send me encouraging emails, send me motivational emails ... yell at me if i try to keep an AIM conversation going for more than five or ten minutes ... remind me about why i'm doing this, and what i hope to achieve.

"Time is the gift that God has given us.
And what we do with it is the most
important challange that faces us."
- Hamza Yusuf [Purification of the Heart]

the 411 on Z

aight, so I've started my third week of classes, and alhamdulliah - I'm still into it, and although I probably understand a little less than I did last week - I still understand more than I thought I would! All g right? I'm in the middle of writing this memo, and its driving me CRAZY. Its not due till Friday, but still - I've been trying to finish it early ... lets see how that goes!

Got back from Va yesterday, went down for Nada's nikkah - which was sooo awesome ma'shaAllah! It was so great to be a part of the celebration, and I'm glad that I could make the trip - it was so nice to see everyone, even though I couldn't really hang out for that long ... got there around noon, ran over to Adams w/Asma and helped her help the Unus family get ready ... j'umma-ed, and then they had the nikkah [short and sweet!], followed by a small reception type deal at the Unus home ... aunty of course served her AWESOME pulao/biryani that I'd fly out to Herndon for at the drop of a hat if I could!! Headed out to Lina's after that - where we relived the afternoon, it was hilarious to watch the video of the events! [ps. Lina - dude, can I get a copy of it!?!??!] you really had to be there! :) Headed to Saimas, looked at pics till REALLY REALLY late, crashed, woke up looked at pics again, coordinated my storage stuff ... headed over to Mo's where he and bhabi made me the BEST steak sandwich EVER [EW grill, watch your back!], had a two hour study hall, nap, dinner at Khala's, crashed ... Sunday - breakfast w/Chacha and 'sef -- mmm omlettes! hopped on the place back to good 'ole Pitt.
WHHHHEEEEW! What an awesome weekend! :-) can't wait to do it again!!!

Back at Pitt now, workin' on my memo - it totally sucks, thank GOD its not graded! Thought my camera died, but its been revived! Couple of random observations -

1. Pittsburgh is a really breathtaking city - wow! there's a view of the city, as you come on the bus back from the airport that is just picture perfect! Subha'anAllah

2. I'm really enjoying the student life again - besides the lack of income, I'm liking the classes, the discussions, to some extent the home work ... its AWESOME!

3. Really looking forward to the weekend ... :) but thats not new!

**********************************************
Visiting Pitt? Drop me a line - I'd love to see you! :)
**********************************************

Law school blues ...

Ok, so a couple of realizations -

Law school is pretty intimidating. People always seem to know more, and seem to work harder. What I might think is an adequate amount of work - is most likely just skimming the surface. Still trying to figure out what I'm s'posed to be looking for, but classes are definately helping with that.

Notes on Pitt:

- the building is insanely cold. its GORGEOUS outside, but inside its like the middle of winter - I suppose this is good training for me.
- print outs - you cannot print for free in the law school - you must hike out to the library [two buildings over] to print anything out. they have a pretty decent system where your print out comes out with a cover page w/your id on it ... and someone is assigned to sort all the printouts and lay them on a big table. it works, but seems a little ridiculous.

Labor day was good - Mo and bhabi made the trip up w/a CAR full of my junk. Gosh, I have so much junk its not even funny - but there is also a fair amount of useful stuff - such as my desk. It was so nice to have them here, but I went through major withdrawal when they left. I expect more such withdrawal next week after I return from my trip to DC. But gotta push through - focus on school work, get my butt into gear and make this work.

Some of the people that I've been talking to over the past week and a half have fallen into the law school black hole -- bumped into a fellow-virginian, and she was spaced out - said she hasn't been able to carry on a decent conversation with anyone because her mind is so full of information. Should I be like that?? I hope not!

Any advice on that issue is welcome.

Over and out for now ... reading calls.

Hurricane Katrina ...

I didn't realize what happende until Wednesday. It was really weird, sadly I was all involved in the first couple of classes - and I knew there was a hurricane warning out, and I saw the footage of people jettin' out of New Orleans, etc. But it wasn't until Tuesday when I asked my roommate what happened - and she was like, oh 80% of New Orleans is under water. Honestly it wasn't until Thursday night that I completely comprehended how bad the situation was.

Since then I've kinda been keeping up with the situation ... andI'm taking the opportunity afforded by the blog to get on my soap box - I have been very encouraged by the reaction from the Muslim community. In this time of tragedy, its VERY encouraging to see statements like this from organizations like ISNA -

ISNA has made the initial donation of $20,000 from its own resources. We appeal to all Muslims to help the victims of Katrina to the best of their ability, through contributions and through helping the refugees resettle and rebuild their lives and livelihood. ISNA urges Muslim Americans to donate generously to humanitarian organizations that are working to meet the needs of the affected people. "It is time to step up and donate, volunteer and pray for those that are affected by this disaster," stated Syeed.

However, I'm disappointed that the media isn't picking up on this -- so, to make a statement for anyone thats googling "Katrina Relief" - here are some more organizations that are making efforts - please donate generously:

Islamic Relief
ICNA
Mercy USA
ISNA

Prayin' for all the victims ...