Happy things are meant to be shared.

Salam,

I received so many good news lately and I'm over the moon. 

1. My dear friend Aisyah is coming back from the States for a short break in May. Can't wait to see her again after so long. Girl, you better be prepared with gossips updates.

2. KULN NY-NJ is organizing Summer Camp again this year. I hope I will be available at that time to join. Previous Summer Camp was a huge success and I just feel so happy that I can contribute again.

3. This morning, I received an e-mail from Uni. of Nottingham saying that I've been accepted for their PhD program. Alhamdulillah. And I e-mail the Dean from USM asking him to approve my uni selection, and within 10 minutes he replied, 'Go ahead with Nottingham'. Alhamdulillah. Terlalu gembira.

4. Just done with an interview with Uni. of Manchester for my PhD application. MasyaALLAH, as I was writing this, I received an e-mail saying that both professors who interviewed me just now want me in their labs. Alhamdulillah, syukur Ya Allah. I feel guilty though, because I have tentatively accepted Nottingham's offer. I'll see what I can do about this.

The reason why I'm sharing all these news about my PhD application, is really not to 'menunjuk-nunjuk'.  There is a chance that I might not go to any of these unis, because KPT (Ministry of Higher Education) still has to approve me. They can turn around and say 'Sorry, we have no funds for you to send you abroad, please find a local uni to do your PhD at'. If that happened (God forbid), I'll still be sharing the bad news here.

I also find people being very secretive about what their jobs are and where they are working at. I respect their personal rights, however, I'm thinking about it in a different way. I always feel I want to share what I do with my friends and my juniors, because I'm hoping that they will learn from me, both from my achievements and my mistakes, and to learn from what I did, and did not do. Yes, there were times when I was being secretive, because I felt inferior that I was just volunteering at Petrosains with RM5 pay per hour, while other friends are earning RM2K a month doing things they love, and related to their studies. But heck, what was I thinking? Rezeki comes from Allah and what I did was nothing bad that I should be ashamed of.

Me writing/sharing all these, is just to inspire you people, and to offer help should you be in the same situation sooner or later. Because this is what I found from other bloggers, INSPIRATION. I have been a silent reader to many blogs, who tell the story of their PhD journey, career life and so on. I wish I can be a bit of a help to others by sharing a piece of my life here.

Here's to many more happy things in our lives! :))