Malak’s Journey of Academic Excellence and Emotional Growth

This semester has been quite a rollercoaster ride both academically and educationally for Malak. If the past few months were to be described in one word for her that would be ‘growth’. One thing Malak is proud of herself for achieving is her writing style and her development in terms of writing. She believes taking the creative writing class has been especially beneficial for her because now she can know different styles of writing which has also helped her express herself more and upon reading her works myself, I can state that it is indeed true.

One major difficulty she faced was taking so many hard courses together which led her to sit for multiple exams in one day. However, even though the drawback for this was pretty hard since she claimed to have become more impatient and put a lot of pressure on herself, it is indeed commendable that she hopes to fix it as soon as possible. She successfully navigated herself through the tough phases by studying in advance and promises to continue to do so. Malak claims to have finally learned to express herself more and this was very clear in her writing. 

A key moment in her growth was her joining a science mentoring program in which she got a leadership role. Here, she learned and discussed with her peers about time management which she implemented in her own life too. She did that by keeping one day for each activity whether it be for studies, break or just hanging out with her friends. It was also in this program that she came across a girl from her homeland which made her heart happy and she feels extremely grateful for that.

This semester has definitely been very challenging for her because her grandmother passed away back home. She couldn’t visit or mourn with her family, which made her very sad.Malak focused on school and suppressed her feelings, but later it affected her personally. Now, she wants to be kinder to herself, accept her emotions, and learn to cope with loss.

Even though Malak was born here she was not fully aware of American history and taking a history class has been a gamechanger for her since her knowledge has evolved a lot more. Hence, for the next semester she hopes to study and achieve more in every aspect of her academic and personal life and also keep up her strong GPA which I am positive she will be because her dedication is remarkable. 

Best, 

Subhana Karim

2nd article:

This semester was one for the books for Malak. It was full of emotions, new experiences,
and challenges to overcome and face. Malak grasped the concepts of multitasking, working
under pressure, and a part-time job while assimilating to the United States.
Starting off strong, Malak’s proudest accomplishment of this semester was taking this
course of introductory creative writing. This class is not a mandatory course for her biology
major. Creative writing, or anything related to humanities, is not her cup of tea and is not in her
area of comfort. Her actively pushing in improving her creative writing helped understand a
variety of concepts such as writing techniques and ethics. Changes in habits also occurred in
this semester for Malak as she worked under pressure significantly compared to than in the
past. She also started preparing for all her exams two weeks in advance. I audibly gasped when
she told me this as I would never do this. But, she said this helped be calmer the day before as
she doesn’t have to cram. She also pointed out cramming for her was very unsuccessful and
this two week preparation period helped her to prioritize self-care and relaxation.
I am very proud of Malak and the many challenges she overcame this semester that she
should be proud of herself as well. Not coming from the U.S, there is a difference in education
and college culture. She pointed out how students in the U.S go by in college and higher
education such as the norm of learning U.S history and working a part time job. She mentioned
how they aren’t her norm but, nonetheless opened up to it. Assimilation to a new place from
your personal normal can be difficult but Malak presented herself with an open-mind and grace
and she should be immensely proud of herself. In regards to her accomplishments, she got a
leadership position in the science mentoring program she joined this year, took very hard
courses this semester in regards to her biology degree, and worked a part-time job while
excelling in her academics.
Academics aren’t everything though as Malak opened up about her struggles finding a
work-life balance. Malak had so graciously opened up to me that her grandmother had passed
away this year. She said it was hard for her to process her feelings while being far away from
her family in her home country. She became very passive and solely focused on her job and
academics. She regrets that choice immensely as she realized that allowing herself to take up
the space to grief and feel all her emotions would have been the better option. As a person who
also has dealt with the passing of a grandparent, it is hard and grief comes to us in different
ways. That is okay. Accepting and acknowledgment is a crucial and final step of grief. her
acknowledgment in an important step to help her heal and move in the correct direction to
caring about herself and her well-being.
This semester taught Malak many things and changed her view on her life, from the
day-to-day and grand scheme of things. She learned how to protect her peace and how to
improve her finding a work-life balance that best fits her. She mentioned the importance of
relaxation and she said, “You are allowed to relax”. She says this to serve herself as a reminder
to stop herself from unnecessary and unproductive stress and overworking. This lesson is very
applicable to many students, including myself. It’s so easy to get carried away with our
responsibilities but we remember we have one life and we must enjoy it.

Alondra Mendoza Pineda