Cheers to 20 years of life

When
Where do you find peace?
you look
How does peace feel to you?
into the

past, what The scene outside my

house has always looked
the same. Sometimes I feel
like I could paint it. It’s
e

tattooed to my memory.
I always looked outside.
do you
c

The crazy part is, all that

changed was me being that
little innocent girl, but the
e n

scenery did not.

It’s still the same to this

miss the day. The buildings, trees,

I n n o c

the road, etc. When I close

my eyes and breathe in
Arlington air. Peace to me
feels like a body with a
soul. I feel alive when I
most? stand there looking at the
scenery outside my house.
If and when things aren’t
going right, being there
makes everything okay. I
believe in God and my
family. I know the purpose
in life. I see how blessed
The innocence. The purity. Not having to worry about anything in the world. Like the song Forever Young, I want to be I am. I just love breathing
forever young. I don’t want to grow up. I miss coming home to my parents after school with my backpack on while my in the air and watching the
mom and dad part their ways. Mom works during the day, dad works during the night. I miss the smell of my mother’s cars go by. That is when my
cooking while I was upstairs doing homework and watching television. I did not have a worry in the world. I miss the heart feels the fullest. It’s
little girl I was. My mistakes were innocent, like my soul. I miss my little sisters running around and screaming and just like being home and sur-
being little. I miss the moment I’d hear my dad’s keys hit the glass table when he came home from a hard and long rounded by people who love
you unconditionally is the
night of work. The water running as he cleans himself for prayer. I miss eating my mother’s food while she is on the
cure to everything. Nothing
phone talking to whoever and I sit there eating, looking at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I miss how
things were. Sometimes when I go home to visit, I pretend to relive it. I do exactly what I did when I was younger. It was
tradition. I miss those moments so much. It’s a feeling I will never forget. The security, innocence, not stressing about can beat that. This is when I
anything. I miss those times but I will never forget the feeling. am the most happiest.Thank
you God, for everything.
 8
Life is a canvas
Most Valuable Life Lesson

Farjana Pireya

Education is the backbone

to a human being.
-Mizan, my father
Paints with red lipstick

My father is the brightest person I know. The most valuable life lesson he has taught me is
to always be knowledgeable and educated. Knowledge defines character. Knowledge is some-
thing that will take you so far in life. As my dad says, “Education is the backbone to a human
being.” As long as you are educated, you can conquer anything. Your character is defined by your
knowledge level. It is truly the key to success. If you can well educated, you WILL be great.
In all areas of life. This is the most valuable lesson. From the most special person in my life.
 F P
A I
R R
J E
A Y
N A
A

Arabic. Bangla.
Smell, perfume from Heaven, blooming of pure, shining aura, Beloved one, lover, “I love this soul”
wise and intelligent

There is a God. I know for a fact that is the
simplest truth I can say. There is a higher pow-
er up there. There has to be. I have seen, heard,
and experienced so much in my life to know
this truth. Not only me, but others’ and their
lives. The galaxy, the human brain, a grain of
sand containing a trillions of atoms—it’s all too
complex, yet weaves in perfectly and just makes
sense. I am a Muslim and I am very proud to be.
Although I am not the best and most perfect
Muslim, I know I follow the right religion. There
is a verse in the
Qur’an, “Oh
be patient.
Indeed, the
promise
of Allah is
truth – Qu-
ran 30:60.”
I have discov-
ered that there
is a force behind
everything in
this world. The
truth is, we, as
humans, love
the same things, hate the same things, and fear
the same things. Our minds are interconnect-
ed but we all are so different from one anoth-
er. Another truth I have discovered is there is a
grand and master plan behind everything and
it all happens for a reason. We may not know
the reason then and there but we experience
epiphanies throughout our life that show/tell
us why it happened. Fate is something one does
not have control over. Keeping and having faith
is something one does have control over. Some
things are just given to us in life and others, we
have to earn.
1 Anything is Possible
Is anything really possible? “Anything is
possible” is cliché and popular quote to us
By Farjana Rahman Pireya
all. It’s inspirational and makes us feel su-
perior. It reiterates the fact that anything… is…
possible. There are no boundaries, limits, excep-
tions, etc. But is that true? Even without restric-
tions, is anything really possible? I find myself
asking this a lot because I don’t know the answer
and I wish I did. That’s when I start thinking
about chances. Like whether something has a
great chance or a slim chance. Because that ties
back to if it is even possible in the first place. I
don’t know but I like to think a lot of things are
possible.
Where The Mind Is
2
What does God look like? Is there even
Everything biblical is mystical,
a God? I know for a fact that there is a
Yet, not everything mystical is Without Fear
God but I can’t help my human instinct
biblical By: Rabindranath Tagore
of asking “Is there really a God?” That itty bitty
They’re theoretical, hypothetical,
part of my logic that questions whether there
and debatable— Where the mind is without fear
is a higher power up there. It’s natural for all
But relatable and the head is held high
humans to ask this question and think this way.
Choices are reversible Where knowledge is free
And if He does exist, what does He actually
Mistakes are irrevocable Where the world has not been
look like? Is He just this force of higher power
People are believable broken up into fragments
or does He have an appearance?
3
Death is unavoidable By narrow domestic walls
Can you die from a heartbreak? Everyone
Love is desirable Where words come out from the
faces a heartbreak in life, some face them
Hurt is irreducible depth of truth
more than once. People say it’s like death.
You are invincible Where tireless striving
I don’t know if it is possible to die from a heart-
Even though you may be skeptical stretches its arms towards per-
break but I kind of have a reason to believe it’s
Although life is questionable fection
possible. A student in my high school, John,
Anything is possible Where the clear stream of rea-
passed away back in May 2013. He was the best son has not lost its way
friend of the guy I was dating at the time and Into the dreary desert sand of
was going to start VCU in the fall of that year. dead habit
John lost his mother a couple years before he Where the mind is led forward
died but he was always a happy kid. He lived by thee
with his father, George. After John passed away, Into ever-widening thought and
many events were held in the celebration of his action
great life. However, on the day of the mourning Into that heaven of freedom, my
service that was being held in the church John Father, let my country awake.
went to grade school in, George was found
dead in his apartment. He passed away natural-
ly in his sleep. It was said he died from a heart-
break.
To our sister, Halima Rahman, in Heaven

We never held you long - but we feel you

You never spoke - but we hear you

We never knew you - but we love you

See you soon, baby girl.