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Hello and Welcome to the first Birthday Post!

Today you guys would get to know more about me. Not in a weird creepy way but somewhat in a personal one. I’m not someone who shares too much about my personal life on the internet so I thought why not allow something to be out there for my birthday.

Will future me regret this? I don’t know. BUT 22 YEAR OLD ME IS EXCITED!

Anyways…I’ll follow the format of 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-1 which simply means 3 things of…a bunch of random topics and then one short message (going to try to be cute and lovely here). Andddd to top it off…there’s going to be a bonus section!

random cheers in the background

Alright! now that we’re all caught up with what is going on, let’s buckle up and move on.

3 Things I Like About Myself

• I like my gift giving skills

• I like the way I laugh when I’m with the people I love

• I like my little nerdy self that comes out when I get to talk about the things I like

3 Things I Don’t Like About Myself

• I don’t like my body

• I don’t like my smile

• I don’t like the way I usually pretend and take absolutely forever to see if the person in front of me is worth it

3 Personal Facts

• I’m a picky eater

• I can’t pretend to like someone

• I get scared of almost everything (though I try not to)

3 Lessons I’ve Learnt In My Life

• It’s your parents’ first time too…cut them some slack (even if it’s hard sometimes).

• It’s better to laugh it off than to hold a grudge for the rest of your life. Joking around may sound stupid but it does eventually lighten the mood.

• People will always have something to say…and usually it’s going to hurt. Sometimes the pain would be bearable, other times it’s going to physically hurt. But it’s okay and you’re going to be fine.

3 Values I Follow

• Be on time. Everyone’s time is of value.

• Keep your word. If you said you will do it, then make that your priority because it’s not only you who’s involved

• Do not lie.

3 Things I’m Grateful For

• That I get to have a family that I can have fun banter with knowing that they love me

• To have 2 best friends who can see through every mask I put up

• To be Muslim…and to know that I’m still breathing and living and in a position that is better than a lot of people…I’m grateful that I know I can just turn to Allah and cry when things feel too much. Alhumdullilah.

3 Goals I Wish To Achieve

• To graduate with honours

• To finish my first book

• To have my Substack become such a place that I could turn to whenever I feel the need

1 Short Message

I started Substack somewhere around end of August 2025. I celebrated my 21st birthday with my family and my best friend. But now, I have my 22nd birthday with things and people I never imagined. There are quite literally 150+ of you guys here. I don’t know how many people actually open and read through ‘birthday posts’ but if you did, I am grateful that you are here. Thank you. If you are new, I’d love to get to know you. And if you’ve known me for some time, I absolutely LOVE having you here. You guys gave me a place where I could say random things and slowly find my people. Substack will slowly and inevitably become somewhat like home and I can’t wait to share the journey with each and every one of you ❤️

~ Your’s truly 🌿

Question 1: If you were to hang out with a fictional character, who would it be?

Okay. So. I thought about this a lot and I mean I don’t think I can choose between Henry (from Henry Danger), Percy (from Percy Jackson universe) and Jesper (From Six of Crows). Hanging out with each one of them would be so much fun. Like think about it. I would love to learn to shoot from Jesper and then with Percy that would be a different ball game altogether. Imagine just hanging out with him and then going on all kinds of side quests because why not. And then as for Henry, I would want to be in on the secret, maybe help out and DEFINITELY look around the ManCave and even order some crazy food from the Auto-Snack.

Question 2: If you wake up tomorrow with a new skill/power, what would it be?

Definitely super speed. Like Flash kinda speed. Like oh my God imagine being able to eat whatever you want because you could just burn it off. And then I wouldn’t get late anywhere! I don’t know about you but that sounds woah to me.

I thought about flying…but then it felt eh. Then mind reading? I don’t know about you but I’d rather not know what people are thinking like sorry I don’t wanna go crazy.

Question 3: What does love mean to you?

This is the kind of question that I believe changes with time. Initially, I just wanted to be loved, have someone of my own who would choose me no matter what. Now? Some things just got added. Love for me is when you wake up every morning and choose to do something with your partner. It’s when you care about them while letting them be their own person. It’s when you hang out, mess around, have fun, love, talk, go on walks/drives, buy groceries together. Love is beautiful…in its own scary way. It’s less about being married to someone or finding the ‘love of your life,’ and more about having someone in you life who would stick by your side no matter who was in front of you.

Question 4: What changes have you noticed in yourself over the years?

I’ve become a better sister and daughter. Growing up…you could say I was the angry one who would stay in her room, get absolutely annoyed at everything and would hate ‘family time.’ Things changed after I met my best friend in college. I saw her relationship with her family and something shifted. Maybe I realised that it was something I craved or maybe it was something else. But I started coming out of my room. Started laughing with my brothers. Staring hanging out with my family. I started sitting with them more often or just being there for the heck of it.

Things changed and Alhumdullilah they did. I still get annoyed with my brothers or have moments that make me angry. But overall…I have become better than the Aymen who was in school.

Question 5: What’s one thing you wish you could have done differently?

There’s a lot of things I left behind before entering university. And one of them were friends. I had many and some I was extra close with. There was a huge gap and stuff happened and we all drifted away and I mean I don’t completely regret it because it happened for a reason. But the way it ended…I mean that’s something I wish I could change. I could’ve done it better and maybe kept some sort of contact that if needed I could reach out without it being super awkward and weird. Something along those lines.

Question 6: Have you ever bended your morals/rules over something? Or is there any exception to the rules?

Yes. Sometimes I would lie if I know the truth is going to hurt someone. Not huge lying but smaller ones; for example, telling someone that their cooking is good or telling them that their presentation was okay. Small ones. Things that can’t be changed and truth would hurt their confidence or something. I feel that being outright rude in the name of being ‘truthful’ is dumb. But if I know that the truth would be better, I would tell them. For example; telling them that the friendship isn’t working or setting up boundaries instead of pretending and lying that everything is fine.