About Me Info:
•	I am currently finishing up my bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with an emphasis on Neuroscience. Psychology is an attractive field because it deals with relationships, helping others, and counseling courses allow a student to get both sides of the counseling process. It brought other ideas to me because it showed me how much help people needed and all my assignments related to other people’s feelings and my own.  I am a very patient person, pleasant to be around, and am a good listener. Sometimes that is all a person needs in order to realize the solution to their problems. Not providing solutions, but just listening. In my coursework, we learned about the brain particularly memory, and how it affects behavior. I found this to be fascinating. This is one area where I was introduced to the topic of neuroscience and how it affects the nervous system and behavior. I find this to be simply fascinating.
•	I am also working on a co-authored Thesis with a Stanford Professor on PTSD, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics. I am supposed to present our thesis at the end of June at a conference virtually this year. Once this thesis is finished in June, I plan to send it out for publication. When I first started out with this thesis topic I began with Cancer Research because I wanted to learn more about why children develop brain tumors at such an early age. My thesis advisor had done a surmountable research on this topic. However, my research led me to Neuroscience, and after that I changed my topic to PTSD and it eventually evolved to PTSD, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics. 
•	I plan to pursue graduate school for a Ph.D. in Neuroscience with an emphasis on Brain and Behavior in 2022 or soon. I have been working in Neuroscience labs throughout my undergraduate career. I am now applying for a prestigious RA (Research Assistant) position at a well-known lab in order to gain a better skill set before applying to graduate schools. This is something I am terribly passionate about! Becoming a scientist in the field of Psychology. 

Ramadan:
•	I am usually one of the main volunteers at the mosque during Ramadan. I like to volunteer by helping out with the Fundraising Team at MCA. I would go around the Ladies' side of the mosque and collect in my basket envelopes for requesting mothers and women for donations letting them know it is not the amount but the dedication to contributing. We would collect hundreds of thousands just from the ladies’ side of the mosque. Here we would collect donations by check or cash and then together as we counted the money, we would tally it and categorize it according to area of fund. I was responsible for giving the cash-box to the Main-Volunteer who heads the sisters' side of the mosque.
I would help in at the singles’ iftar nights, distributing food to the fasting people. Usually they were college students and working adults, but many others who did not have the means to opening their fasts would join in. I was responsible for the women’s end of the singles’ iftar. There were other volunteers who handled the men’s side of the mosque.
On the big nights, we often had Qiyam night where speakers bureau (men and women Sheikh and Sheikhas) would present their discussions with questions and answers on a given topic. Mostly, these topics were related to issues that young people faced in the community with questions at the end of the Qiyam to be answered. I would have the questions delivered to the discussion board and it was either on paper or the microphone. Since the banquet hall was very large to accommodate many people, several volunteers would participate in this discussion. Also, before the Qiyam night, I was responsible for announcing to the women the discussions to be held. Sometimes, I would bring water to the older women in the audience. As tea and samosas were prepared, it was up to the volunteers to distribute them to those who wanted them.
•	I also volunteered my time in the babysitting room. During Taraweeh nights, Mothers would drop their children off in the babysitting room. I would take care of their children for the night. I would play games with the children, and would feed them ice cream at a certain time of the night. Something they went crazy for! I made sure that babies were sleeping soundly at night, and that they were not crying. When one child cries it sets off the whole room of children. It was my duty to make sure that all of the children were happy and sleeping babies. I would also read to the older children short stories that they could enjoy that would lull them to a deep slumber. I took them to the Maryam room which is the exercise room sometimes. The Maryam room is known to be the exercise room. Here we did yoga with all the little ones. It was quite enjoyable, and pleasant. 
Gardening:
•	I like to garden in my spare time as I love to be in nature. I also have a birdfeeder where the squirrels and birds are fighting for food in a delicate manner. It is fun to watch them and feed them. I find caretaking for the animals to be fun. 
•	What I love most about gardening is the landscaping aspect. I enjoy buying flowers and plants from a variety of nurseries and sprucing up the backyard. I search online for the best nurseries within a 25-mile radius and go with my mother to select different plants. This takes several hours of studying the plants, looking at the herb garden, selecting the various vegetables to see which ones would fit best in our garden, where the plants such as tomatoes and green chilies would get the most sun. I also learned about the variety of green and red chilies that I could plant. I also like to add different flowers that remind me of spring weather. As spring and summer weather is the best time for planting. A process of gardening is negotiating with the gardeners on different prices of the plants. I like to add bows around the pots in different corners of the backyard to make it more aesthetic and negotiate prices with the various nurseries and get onto their mailing list, so I could make my selections at home.
Hobbies:
•	I love to cook international cuisines. I am really good at whipping up authentic Chinese dishes, I love to cook Indo-Chinese such as Hakka noodles, and chicken saute, and authentic Italian dishes. I even whisk up recipes that I have concocted on my own and those are the best ones. My dad loves my cooking because it is a mix of desi and American cooking. During the Ramadan season is the best. I help my mom a month before Ramadan to make snacks such as samosas, egg rolls, and I look up recipes and make alterations which are the best. I make homemade samosas, pakoras, and chapattis. It is my job to make the iftari during Ramadan. My mom loves to eat rice after fasting, so I have learned to make very tasty rice even though it is plain to go with the dishes. I am planning on some new items this Ramadan. The Pandemic has given me extra time to find new ways of cooking.
•	My favorite book is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I also like to read academic journals related to my research. I have read a few novels on mental illness, but most of all I love to read the Wall Street stock exchange articles. I also have access to Scientific American, The Harvard Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and several home journals that have tons of recipes and decorating ideas. I like Better Homes and Gardens because the journal has some really good ideas on decorating and recipes that are simple to make. I use these, but invent some things of my own.
•	I love decorations in the house and food decorations and helping my mom in the kitchen. Before the Pandemic, my mother used to have these Quran parties with lots of women her days off. She used to cook all kinds of things and I have learned a lot from her. I help her with the desserts and decorating. I usually choose the table cloths we will use and other table linen. We have a woman who used to come and help and I learned how she made chilli sauce and salsa. I also serve the ladies water, tea, and food and they love being served. I also make all kinds of waters for women to drink such as lemon water, cucumber water and I invent others. I also pick flowers from the garden and make the house look very inviting. They say you can tell when a girl lives in the house by the way the house is decorated. 
•	Eid parties: We used to have an elaborate eid party every year, but the Pandemic put a stop to it. We would get the food catered (too many guests) but I would decorate the house, and make the punch (which the guests remembered till long after), my mom made the dessert, but I used to stand and watch her. Now I can make those things on my own. Our food was outside seating, so I decorated all the tables with small vases that I got from Michael’s and then got confetti and with the paper table cloths would decorate the tables with candles lit on every table. People would ask my mother about the layout, and my mom would always point to me and the outside work to my sister who loves ice cream and would buy every kind for the punch.
•	Art: At Berkeley, I took art classes which I loved. I was able to get all my feelings on paint. On one of the paintings, I was able to do splash art that described the Day of Judgement in wild colors of blue and burned red. When my professor asked me what it was, I had told her the earthquake frightened me and reminded me of what an apocalypse would be like. She liked it so much that she placed my piece in the Berkeley museum of art. After that, I practiced at home and my dad got me charcoal to do drawings and I checked a book from the library about drawing. Now I was ready to do drawing. When I went to the first class, a nude man and woman appeared and I rushed out of the class. I told my professor I could not see naked figures it was not in my religion. She allowed me to draw a fruit basket in another room but told me drawing figures is part of the curriculum. I tried to make my case that I could draw the bust of a man only, but she did not allow it. I soon realized that art would compromise on the teachings of Islam I have had in Islamic school. I soon realized that that was why there were no Muslim girls in the drawing program. Art has been left on the back burner for me, but I have such a passion for it, I know I will go back to painting someday. People get surprised because I was admitted into Computer Science and Art seemed an unlikely elective. Yet, this came in handy when my mother was designing the house so I was helping her design the house with my artistic side.  I love to delve into oil painting from time to time as well as charcoal projects. I love art it is one of my greatest hobbies, it is how I get my creative ideas flowing, and am able to unwind.
•	Farmer’s Markets: I enjoy attending farmer's markets on the weekends to show my support for local vendors and farmers. As a total “foodie” I love the breakfast items they offer there. The farmers market in Palo Alto has a reputation for being the best in the area. I would buy jam, and fresh eggs every weekend. I love having my eggs fresh because they come straight from the farm, and a chicken has sat on the eggs ready to eat during the week. To me it's worth the extra price. The best part is the breakfast crepes that they have at the farmers' markets. Mushrooms, spinach, and cheese in a crepe is delicious!
•	Spending time with family and friends is something I cherish. Nothing can replace family. I love spending time with my family at “tea-time” and basically enjoying their good company.
•	Spending time in the outdoors: 
•	I have set up a weekly group on Sundays where we would meet before covid, for brunches to relax and unwind. It is a great way to meet new people. My favorite restaurant was Crepevine – they sell crepes of all kinds and many desserts. My other favorite restaurant is Palo Alto Sol which was another favorite Mexican restaurant I went to meet up with friends. 
•	One of my friends would have a potluck at her house on a monthly basis. We would play games, eat, talk, and scrabble and other things. We also enjoyed having a Muslim Christmas, which was more like celebrating as a Muslim. This event rotated around , to several homes (those who lived alone or had room-mates) I live with my parents, so I never got to have a potluck at my house.
•	I like to go for walks, go to the park, events at the community center. I used to play tennis and basketball but I have not done that lately. I also hang out with my friends at Farmer’s market and enjoy eating and tasting foods. I also like just to hang out there.
•	I love to sit in coffee shops and do my work. Just bring a laptop and get down to business. My favorite café is Douce France, it’s a French bakery with all kinds of desserts, coffee, teas, croissants and is a sit-down place to do work. Only the elite come there and most of the time one runs into old-timers. It’s a place where my mom, sister, and I would hang out together after going to the Spa which is next door to this bakery. I am waiting for covid to be over to go back!
•	Sporting Events: I enjoy watching games, and sporting events as long as I am at the game. My favorite kind of games to attend are football games and basketball games. I also love tennis tournaments. Most of all I enjoy all the entertainment that encompasses sporting events. 
•	Travel: I enjoy traveling to new places, before covid with my family. I hope to travel again. Some places that I have been lucky to travel to have been Hawaii, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, England, and Pakistan.  I went to Brazil and Argentina on a family trip for exploring and an adventure. Germany and France were the same a fun trip. A few places on my bucket list are China, Korea, and Russia!  My trips to Pakistan are usually for cousins’ weddings which are a lot of fun. 
•	Window Shopping: I love to go window shopping (before covid) with family members and friends. Sometimes you cannot afford the merchandise, but they give you little samples once they get to know you.