Dreams to Make True

There are two kinds of people in this world, the one to live and enjoy the joys and hurdles of life as it goes on, and the one who ensures every course of action in life is calculated to precision to produce maximum results.

I have always been the second one. I have always lived on a clear timeline and it is almost strictly non-negotiable. If you got the chance to look at my marriage CV, you’ll know what I mean. I know roughly what I want to achieve and how to get there, and I also know that if life doesn’t go as expected, there are different paths, twists and turns, which I can take to get back on the main road.

One way to have that clear vision is, of course, to first know what we want to do in life. This can vary depending on your position in life. My goals as a student are different from my goals as Gods’ humble servant, as a content creator, a daughter, a partner, a friend, and so on.

As an individual, I’d like to remain intellectually curious. I’d like to continue reading as much as I can and learn everything that I can. I’d like to enjoy modest amount of entertainment and continue to be grateful for the life that I have.

Career and academic wise, I want to be a founder of a sex-ed app for Muslim families. I want to ensure adolescents are given the power to make educated decisions related to sexual activities. I want to ensure parents can provide a safe environment where children can come to them with any issues related to sexuality. I want to prevent misinformation and detrimental damage that can come out of careless behavior from the parents’ side.

How am I going to do this?

My main goal is to develop a smartphone app that will serve as a guide for parents to support children learning at home. To develop this app, I need to first go to a grad school that has a digital technology for education program.

The grad schools that provide this opportunity are Oxford and Cambridge, so I am applying to both schools and I hope to receive scholarships. Prior to the application process, I already undertook English proficiency exams and am currently writing my application essays.

Another thing I need to do is learn to code because while I will be having a team with proper developers, it is important that I know the basics too, so that is a soft skill that I will be developing this year.

I am working on my best to achieve these goals.

As a content creator, I’d like to specify my brand as Zhafira Aqyla, a Muslim-minority student who is currently pursuing her dreams far away from her homeland.

I would like to produce more videos regularly which hopefully can be beneficial for my viewers. I also want to create inclusive contents that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people.

My goal is to post 3-4 videos a month with subtitles and closed captions, and to write a blogpost every week.

As a daughter, I’d like to make my parents proud, plain and simple. I’d like to spend as much time as I can with them, because tomorrow is not guaranteed and there is not enough mountains in the world to move to repay their sacrifice so that I can be the person that I am today.

As a partner, I’d like to be more mindful, to be a guide and a supportive rock to my partner’s searching soul. I’d like to show him all of the beautiful things life has to offer and take him to do things he’s never done, to places he’s never visit.

As a team member in various organization, I’d like to give my all.

As a humble servant, well, that is for me and God to keep.

And so the list goes, and they’re endless. Ultimately, my main goal is to ensure everything that I do is for God, and God only.

This is only a small chunk of who I am and what I wish to achieve for this year, and I encourage you to make a list of your own too or, if it doesn’t fit you, then go ahead and live in the moment.

Whatever works for us both. Good luck!

Here’s to us,
Zhafira