Hellooo hostel life

IIUM PJ began two weeks ago. Well, orientation to be exact began on last Tuesday (10th June). My dad had to drop me off because he had to go off to work. I was actually really scared and freaked out. Dunno what to do or to say. It's like I'm jumping into the sea without a life jacket; at least that's what it feels like. It seems like everybody has their family with them, even their extended family: their cousins, auntie, grandparents etc.

After (a long line of) registration, got the keys and went to my mahallah. Thankfully Uncle Rozhan's daughter was really kind enough to accompany me to my room. There were already some people there. This girl with her parents and siblings. I wasn't really sure what to do so I just sorta stood there. The whole time I was on the verge of tears actually. Many a time people asked me where are my parents and everything... It's like I'm from an orphanage or from a faraway state but really, my dad's workplace is just half an hour away... After most family members left, I just started unpacking. There was this roommate of mine (who I later found out her name is Ashikin) who lined her cupboard with white sheets of paper and brought all her SPM books and it's like she's totally ready for the world out there and can never be any readier. and I felt like I'm so unprepared and didn't bring half the things I needed (though this was because I planned to go back every weekend). Still, it makes me at a loss of what to do.

First two days was really awkward. But after some time we sorta just got used to each other. I share a room with 3 other people- Ashikin (dentistry), Sharidah (physical science) and Fatehah (physical science). They are really fun people:) All three of them used to stay in a hostel so I really learned a lot from them... also not to mention that I felt behind -again-.
These days, there's almost always laughter in the room. I'm the youngest so I get bullied a lot... Lol. Ikin is always into books from what I see... She's a straight A1 student! and meticulous. Ida is the one who likes to bully me a lot (since she's the eldest) but she has a rich and contagious laugh. Teha prefers large crowds so she's usually out exploring UIA... They are all A students and super smart!

Ta'aruf week is tentatively only for that week. We even had a closing ceremony on Friday night! Though this week, we had what we call Post Ta'aruf. Which, to me, is still part of the Ta'aruf week. It was looooong and draaaging! So many briefings... There were at least 2 books and 4 talks on dress codes. On the Ta'aruf week, we are tentatively meant to finish at 11pm but by the time we close things and given last notices and dismissed, it is 12:30am. It takes a really long time to mobilise 1000 students. And I thought asking students to go up to the musolla at adni was already tiring.

Because of the vast amount of students, sometimes you feel like you're a nobody. Especially when we all have to wear the same baju batik and white tudung and white skirt. It's like... you can't recognize anyone unless you really focus properly.

Although there were really many people, i got to make friends along the way:) Made friends from the same course, from ta'aruf week programs etc. Of course I didn't feel totally alone because bama and maryam were there too. THough we don't meet all the time because there really are a lot of people and we have our own agenda sometimes.

There was a bai'ah session at the closing ceremony on last friday. The former head prefects and asst head prefects were called out to lead the bai'ah session. We went for rehearsals, auditions and practices. Since we didn't have much time (only two days!), we had to rehearse long hours. Never realized there could be so much work in reading a pledge. The intonation, the speed, the pause, the walking systematically and synchronized-ly and we also had to memorize the text so we'd know the pauses and everything. It's like repeating the text again and again til our voices become hoarse. One night, we even finished at 1:30am and I was so scared to walk back to my Mahallah. There were two other girls who had to accompany me back home. In the end, it wasn't much anyway... I mean, there was only one guy who lead it but we others had to walk behind him. I guess the seniors/ta'aruf committee in charge of the closing ceremony were really grilling us because they wanted it perfect because the dean of UIA PJ and Nilai were going to be there...

But I have to say the seniors are pretty nice. They made sure we're okay and helped us around. Some of them are funny (in a cute way). Well, we were told to give salam to the people we meet though sometimes when I do, they stare at me and walk away. Ahaha. I know it sounds so naive of me but whatever.

This chapter of my life: a lot of doing things independently. Finding timetable and walking here and there. Searching for the right people for the right things. Getting signatures just to leave...

I guess I'm getting used to it. Slowly:)