To me, graduation is more than just getting a piece of paper

To most people, graduation from university is a common life milestone. Everyone (well mostly everyone) does it and it isn’t as special.

When I saw on my student portal today that I have been cleared to graduate, I couldn’t help but have a huge sigh of relief. I worked so hard to get to this place to finally be able to say I am a university graduate.

As many of you know, my post-secondary journey has been a bumpy one to say the least. I started university in 2013 at the ripe age of 18, first in the Chemical Engineering program at TMU (formerly Ryerson).?

A few weeks into the program I knew it wasn’t for me but if you know me well, when I commit to something, I do my absolute best to stick to it. I loved and still love math but that is pretty much all I liked about the program.

I went through multiple health crises that I know were a direct fact of my extreme stress and sadness. I first had a fluke accident while walking in the snow in February 2014, causing a severe concussion and short term memory loss coupled with migraines. I tried studying but I would easily forget what I was studying and the pain was so debilitating I had to take the rest of the semester off.

Other health concerns rose including needing emergency surgery in December 2014 during my final exams. Each time I got sick or took time off, people who I thought were?my friends would say I am drama queen and not taking university seriously.

I tried to push through and do well but my misery was getting the best of me and my health.

I first attempted to leave the program in 2016 but chose a random program that I did not have any interest in. I knew journalism was something I liked but I thought I wouldn’t get in because of my marks in engineering.

One day in February 2017, I applied to journalism school thinking I will not get in but sure enough I did. However, that time around, I decided not to accept the offer and give engineering one more try.

18 short months later, I was hospitalized twice within a month due to some health complications and despite having medical documentation explaining my absence, none of my professors were supportive. During the final days of my last stay there, I asked my husband Omar to bring me my laptop so I can reapply to journalism and finally get rid of my misery.

I submitted my online application and upon discharge from the hospital, I asked my mom to drive me to university to submit my physical portfolio. My application was complete on October 31, 2018 and on November 26, 2018, I found out I was accepted to start in September 2019.

I never click accept on anything in my life faster than I did that (actually maybe terms and conditions but that’s besides the point).

I entered the program in 2019 and found my way. While being 6+ years older than my classmates was a bit hard for me to navigate, I found my love for studying and writing once again. Because I was able to transfer half my credits from my former program, I was able to finish my degree in 3 years.

During these three years, I suffered a mental health crisis due to the stresses of infertility (not from school luckily) and shortly after, I found out I was expecting my son Ziyad.

Ziyad has helped me navigate the last 4 semesters in a way that tapped into an energy I never knew I had.?

As I cross the stage on June 17, my (will-be) 20 month old son will look at mommy on the stage and realize one day that she did all this for herself and for him too.