Ending A New Year?

Assalamualaikum, everyone! How I miss writing on here so much!

First and foremost, alhamdulillah. All praises be to Allah for allowing me time to write again on this blog. How I'm just thrilled to tell you guys of the very busy year I've had. You might have noticed, of course, that I had a few attempts of writing travel logs, but unfortunately I did not give myself time to stretch my fingers on this keyboard and log on to this blog. I truly do miss this!

Secondly, I am very sorry to say that I might not be continuing any of the travel logs mentioned. Other things had occupied my mind along with the memory of those wonderful moments that I could no longer recall any details. I apologize if any of you had been waiting for so long for the continuation. However, I have decided to make it up to you all. For the whole December school holidays, inshaAllah I will be travelling with my family all around Europe once again. I really hope this time I could at least stop and write what I have done for the day. Hopefully that's good enough for you guys! If you have any other requests, please state so below.

Also, my focus on Clueless Cases is kind of fading. Some of you might like it, but I find it hard to steer it to the end that I desired. It may not be continued for a while, or I would probably discontinue it and replace it with another story. (I just found out I can't just write without planning anything in the middle. Taking a little hiatus for a while.)

Now - you must all be wondering - why am I so busy this year that I barely have time to write? The main reason for this is that, just like any other school students, I was busy with schoolwork. Have I told you of the new class I'm in? With the IGCSE syllabus? Well - it's tougher than I thought. Out of five cycles, we are now finally in the fifth, which stretches until the end of January 2016.

What is it that kept me busy? I'm not overtaxing myself or anything, but I still do lack a few hours of sleep (averagely). Well, I hope this video can sum it up for you.

Enjoyed it? Thank you for watching! I'll have you know that this video is not at all mine; rather, full credits should be given to a great friend of mine, Atiyyah, for the wonderful video editing! All credits of this video belong to you, including all the viewers and readers who enjoyed this! Hope you're reading this~!

As you might have found out from the video, we have organised a few events for the school (as part of our Merdeka project, and Life Skills project), went to a couple of field trips to stretch our legs (there's supposed to be more, but looks like we're too occupied with other things), and still celebrated the usual things such as Teachers' Day (very funny tale, actually). All of them were very exciting!

Right now (since September) we're busy with another project, which involved theses and products. Since this is the last week of school, our teachers in the class of Dar-Izzah wanted us all to fill this week with activities that can make the year 2016 a memorable year. As we all agreed, it's a great idea! Telling us to write the scariest, most embarrassing, most tiresome and most amusing moments of this year that we had; giving awards to the funniest, neatest, most curious (four of them), most creative, coolest, most clueless, clumsiest, most trustworthy, most unpredictable, the one with the highest leadership skills, most cheerful and the most helpful, along with the person who is the life of the class; playing physical activities, including water balloon fight and pop-the-balloon battles; and now we're awaiting the little party we're having tomorrow, when we will exchange gifts among the class.

As the teachers are still working hard to help us, and the Graduation Day preparation, I would like to try and make this post a memorable one for 2016 as well.

Acknowledgements first!

First ever, ever - I would like to so deeply thank my great, wonderful, fantastic, OUTSTANDING teachers: Teacher Hafizah, Teacher Hasni and Sir Rahman.Special thanks to Teacher Nafeesa, and not forgetting, of course, Puan Noor Azizah and Sir Ahmad Fauzi. There are lots of reasons that I'd love to thank you for, but I'll have to summarize them, I'm afraid.

Firstly, thank you for being patient with us. Hehe... we know how we sometimes encumber you with our unacceptable behavior (including wasting time, playing, being reactive, things like that) and you had been quite patient with us. You still loved us as your fellow students, and taught us until we understood; and that brings me to my next point.

You're all always so helpful. Whenever we need it, you guys provide help for us. Especially these times now that we're so distressed with theses and product. And it's not only help with schoolwork either - you helped us build up confidence, positivity, and kept reminding us of manners, morals and other things that we still need reminding of (oh, look, my point's proven).

Thank you particularly to Teacher Nafeesa, for the positivity that you spread like an infection throughout the whole classroom. You're always encouraging us, urging us and giving useful suggestions to us whenever it comes to work. I wonder when I'd ever be a critical, creative thinker like you.

Thank you to Teacher Hasni - for the great reminders you always provide for us. Some might be irked by your reminders, but I found them very helpful. Thanks to you, I could see the class improving, gradually getting better. Even though you set strict rules around the class, I am still convinced you're doing it for the best.

Thank you to Teacher Hafizah, for the kindness and extreme patience towards your students. Those several thousand times you can burst when other teachers are, you didn't. You stayed patience and was always optimistic. You also provide great help, and have a good sense of humor around us.

Thank you to our coolest Sir Rahman, whose sarcasm we will all surely remember through our lives, along with the lessons you have taught us, of course. The reminders you tell us were always of great importance, You're also a supportive and sporting teacher, whom I appreciate very much.

And last but never the least, the best principal and founder of Sri Ayesha! No other than Puan Noor Azizah and Sir Ahmad Fauzi.

Teachers should be highly appreciated, as they are like our second parents, just as the school is like our second home. I mean, c'mon, how many hours do we spend at school every day? But of course, we have our siblings, right?

I want to thank all of my classmates, for all the fun times you have lent to me so that I could decorate my life with them. Happy times, sad times, exciting times, angry times, insane times - they were all very precious moments. I have learned a considerable amount of lessons from you guys; no matter the ones closest to me, or the ones I barely talk to; those who stand up for me or those who go against me; older or younger, boys and girls alike. We're all, including the teachers, one community, Dar-Izzah community - Dar-Izzah family. I love you all. I hope our bond will never break.

Like I said, there are lots of lessons I've learned this year, but as a whole, the lesson I see most was this - that we stand as a community. Even after lots of heated moments, lots of tongue battles and moments when Dar-Izzah seemed to be breaking apart, we are still together in the end. Everyone in this class is special. Look at the events we've organized - we did all that together, and we jump in triumph together in the end. Those were enjoyable moments, following the stressful moments that had preceded it. And I know we experience very depressing and stressful stuff - under the pressure of both work and the... well... bash. I must say, it doesn't really feel good to be hated, right?

Next year, some of us might part from us, and our number might add. It would probably be tougher than this year, but from what we have learned this year, we must keep the peace in Dar-Izzah and maintain the class name, "Adobe of Greatness". We are great people, and we must unite to become a great community. Let us do our best to help the new generation next year, and good luck to the ninth graders - let us give them space to focus on their exams.

Another lesson I've learned is that you can learn lessons from everything around you. Either it's spoken or acted, there's still something you can learn from it. We all make mistakes. We all have weaknesses. It's best if we learn from our mistakes, and focus on our strength instead of our weaknesses. We might feel down when there are people who kick us out just because we're in a new class, but we shouldn't let it get to us. We can learn from this, right?

There are so many things I'm dying to talk about, but let me pause here. Don't worry, I'll return soon.

Before I end this, I would like to express my apologies to those that I have hurt, in Dar-Izzah or outside of the class. Teachers or students alike. I really hope I would improve my behavior and concentration.

Thank you for my supporters; my beloved parents, supporting me from a very distant country; my cousins, especially Mai, for assisting me in my schoolwork, and for understanding me; uncles and aunties, grandpas and grandmas, thanks for the moral and emotional support. I highly appreciate every one of you.

And finally, to my fellow readers. It is amazing of you guys to stay loyal to this blog, even when it's been months and months since I last updated. Really hope you'd stay more.

The school year of 2016 may be coming to an end, but when I turn to look back, I do not regret letting myself glide through this special year. Like any other years, this is one of my favorite for its own reasons.

Until next time. Assalamualaikum.

P.S: I have decided to name this year 'The Year of Memories', because the moments we had are just unforgettable. Plus, we sometimes recollect our memories of the past years.