Hello everyone my name is Ikram, and I use she/her pronouns. I am a junior, and my major is Engineering Physics. I am a transfer student from Bunker Hill Community College, where I earned my Associates in Biomedical Engineering. I am 31 years old , graduated from BHCC in 2024. Unfortunately, in 2025, my little sister and two of her friends passed away in Belize due to carbon monoxide poisoning, and I had to take a year off from school. This pushed me to write more, during my teen years I wrote a lot, and I always loved writing. I would not say I was particularly great at it, but I enjoyed it. The book I will be mentioning below is a book that my little sister and her friends all took a copy of when they traveled.

I find my self watching crime shows, and end of the world movies, and shows that take you back in time, like Quantum Leap . If I had to diagnose my self, I would say that’s major anxiety, lol. My husband seems to love watching comedy movies and never understands why I watch all the stressful movies or shows. However, I don’t find them stressful at all. In fact, they help me see different perspectives and get my mind working. They are actually relaxing for me because once I learn the who, what, why, and how, it ignites the scientist in me that wants to know everything. I enjoy trying to understand what happened, why it happened, and what could have been done differently.

Besides the shows and movies I described above, I also love reading my sister’s book of reminders and duas in Islam called After Beautiful Patience. This book has words that somehow always seem to resonate with exactly what I need to hear. I love the way i is written, especially the powerful words and poems that help me reset and look at my day from a different perspective.

The title itself is what drew me to the book in the first place. It reminded me of the Quranic verse, “Indeed, with hardship comes ease.” this this is sometimes misunderstood as meaning that the ease only comes after the hardship is over. However, the verse can also be understood as reminding us that even during hardship, there can be moments of ease. This is one of the things I enjoy most about reading. Sometimes, what is written is not always exactly what it seems to mean at first. I like figuring out what the author is trying to communicate and looking for the meaning underneath the words, almost like reading between the lines.