Once upon a time... Lady Gaga was walking through the woods?

 So My friend I decided that it has been a while since we did a photo session together and were pumped up on doing a 21st century Red Riding hood theme! we found the clothes, the hood but after a couple of shots we realized we were missing an important element, can you guess?

A basket! after searching the whole house, we realized there was no basket so we had to improvise and went indoors and created a more Lady Gaga / Glamour shoot! 

as everyone knows, I adore B/w photos but my friend insisted on a color photo so here is one just for her

Post Academia Blues: Have you got it?

As I finished the body of my dissertation, I contemplated the ways in which I would introduce the topic of eBook and find a nice way to connect the topic in order to get my reader captured from the very first sentence. 

For hours I stared at a blank screen until I realized the important element of Change. The epitome of what my thesis preaches is that change is inevitable and quintessential for any business success. I was happy with my introduction and felt very confident that it linked with my body of work. Now, the blood and sweat I have poured in the last 3 months and a half will hopefully be rewarded with the grade I deserve.

Yet the topic of Change has once again subconsciously been brought up during a conversation my friend and I were having. It has been almost two months since we had seen each other and both of us have begun to adjust to our new lifestyles post St. Andrews. Now that we have both finally submitted our Dissertations, proud to have it done weeks in advance! We began to ask the troubling question that we have put of for almost a year, What now?

A recent article by the Guardian states that many people suffer from Depression after graduation, a result of feeling helpless to the big corporation world out there. Majority of us entered university with ideals of leaving and conquering the world but we wake up to the harsh reality of rejection letter from companies, entry level jobs requiring experience and positions of which applications begin in year 2011.

Especially in this economy, it is almost hard for anyone who has just graduated to find his or her ideal job! This according to the Guardian’s article is the reason behind this depression which is widely affecting large number of graduates. Think about it, How many cover letters could one write stating why they are qualified and fit for the company, how many more “tests” should a student go through and in the end they see the word rejection. Helplessly, we all ponder the thing we most fear, “ Is there something wrong in me?”.

Looking at one of my friends as an example, he had applied for a graduate position in a well-known consulting firm in the United Kingdom. He was thrilled to hear back from the company and went through two interview processes that he successfully aced. Later he conducted quantitative examination with a case study which was done on an 8 hour span. He finally received a phone call from the consulting company that he had successfully passed this stage and was called in for the final stage in which constituted of an  interview with the head of HR, they stated that even if on paper he was perfect for the position, if HR dosent believe you can incorporate into the company’s culture you will not be hired. It was hard to believe that they would not take him in after this whole process, yet he received the phone call that told him that they decided that he was not the right fit into the following company. They tell you rejections are part of life but I can imagine it took him a while to recover, as it should! And we provide the words of wisdom that keeps us optimistic, “ This rejection was for the best”

Yet I don’t believe a job is going to resolve everything, perhaps it will postpone and keep you busy until you begin to settle down and become happy with the new adjustments in your life. Change is hard, especially after years of enjoying a similar lifstyle, group of friends and atmosphere. Some of us come with a different mindset but we always somehow find life post academia in my opinion the hardest transition in our lives.

Confessions of the Arab Bookworm Hypocrite

Never have I ever had the chance to learn so much about the world of Arabic Literature like I have in my recent research on the publishing market in the Middle East. I have come to learn about authors that flourished, others that passed by without a single chance of fame and I find myself even more enticed to actually read the works of Haykal love story to Mahfouz Nobel literatures and the many other authors I have come to learn about in details.

I still wonder if it was my lack of interest in my Arabic studies during my high school years or the lack of creativity it came to teaching the course, but it saddens me that I never showed (and many others perhaps) any interest towards Arabic literature.

I recall as soon as the bell rang indicating the end of our classes, I would take out my Harry potter or Dan brown novels and read as much as I can before the start of my next class. Many of us grew with this idea that Arabic novels, like our courses were boring and lacked the same spark any English best seller novel did and this is perhaps ideally one of the many reasons why the Arabic publishing industry today are suffering.

Yet, I must confess that I am somewhat of a hypocrite, and it took me a while to realize this as I was browsing through the St. Andrews library. I came upon the translated work of Haykal, I was tempted to throw away all my work and sit in the corner and just read the novel. I held the book and stared at it for a while, its rough edges and smudged pages show that this book has been read more than once. I stared at Haykal’s name in English and I sat there and contemplated the ironic situation.

I am an Arab, with the ability to read a book in Arabic yet I wanted to read the book in the English language. It bothered me more than anything that as my thesis proposes strategies for the market to come back to its days of glory, so the least I could do is practise what I preach.

Which brings me to the resolution I have put down, as soon as I submit my thesis to the university, I will force myself to read my very first Arabic novel. It may have taken me 21 years, living in Scotland and working on a thesis only to realize this, but I always believe it is never too late.

Taking the road less travelled by Arabs.

A trip to the capital was needed after a long struggle with dissertation during my days in St. Andrews!

After years of abandoning the traditional monthly visits to London I decided to venture once more as my cousin and I took the cultural root (or as we called it, the road less travelled by arabs) and visited the V&A and the Saatchi and Saatchi gallery.

Just a couple of experimental pics taken during my visit that i would like to share.