This is always difficult to do but I'll try my best.

I'm a 32 year old Pakistani American occupational therapist, born and raised in NYC. I received my Masters degree at NYU and hope to eventually work in pediatrics. 

I'm the first in my immediate family to go to college. My parents are from Karachi and both had to forego college to work early to help support their families. My father ran a few small businesses when I was growing up, realized he didn't want to work for anyone other than himself and now happily drives an Uber while my mother became a stay-at-home mom after leaving her 10-year job as a flight attendant for PIA. They imparted their children with the value of hard work as the key to making it in this world and we did not let this knowledge go in vain. I'm the eldest of 3 and my 31 year old sister is currently an attorney and my 25 year old brother is imparting on the journey to becoming a nurse anesthetist.

I would describe myself as family-oriented and someone who has chosen to keep a select few friends around me. Not a social butterfly but someone who values the quality of friends over the quantity of them. I wear hijab, pray 5 times a day (I always manage to find a way to be creative with that!) and try to put Islam first over anything and everything, practicing it as much as I can. I am conservative, shy, reserved, cautious and love to give back to the Muslim community however I can. I'm also sensitive, compassionate, caring, kind, have been told that I "exude warmth" and am incredibly loyal to those that I love. I would say I'm more of an introvert and a homebody.

And yet, I can also be extroverated and am just as modern and open-minded as I am conservative. I've been told that I'm ambitious, have leadership qualities as I like to take initiative at times and can have a "strong personality". I admit that I can be a perfectionist but I've also learned to be very flexible. I grew up feeling misunderstood (still feel that way sometimes) and that led me to develop a "tough" persona. I can be edgy, witty and sarcastic. However, as an adult, I've learned to put a positive spin on things and have been told that I'm "feisty", fierce and have a fiery personality. My patients literally refer to me as a "drill sergeant".

I left home a little over 3 years ago, lived in 3 different cities and love being on my own as I'm learning so much about myself. I love traveling and volunteering. One of my goals is to take part in medical missions to Muslim countries affected by war and trauma.  I love reading (non-fiction, self-help and different kinds of history) and watching horror movies, as well as swimming, horseback riding, spin, yoga and dance. Being from NYC, I have an immense love of fashion/style, beauty and breaking stereotypes about hijabis, in the sense that I can be edgy, say what's on my mind and have my own fierce sense of style (which I love! I freely embrace the term "rebel" and am known as that in whatever group of friends that I'm in.

Finally, I love learning about inner transformation and like to do as much inner work as much as possible. This includes taking online and in-person seminars on purification of the soul, learning about the law of attraction and doing everything I can to live a life that I love!

Hope that tells you a little something ?