1. If we had no winter I would probably spend the majority of my time sneezing.

2. My ability to manage to get lost, even when I have adequate directions is a perpetual astonishment.

3. If I had my life to live over, every moment lived would be lived in pure happiness.

4. Soooo, was I suppose to do something inside of four and twenty hours?

5. If you've never been thrilled you need to seriously choose better friends.

6. To be interested in the changing seasons would be considered meteorology or something like that.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to playing with my new phone IF UPS doesn't take ALL DAY to deliver it, tomorrow my plans include doing Black Grad and Sunday, I want to crash, but I'll probably be reading all day and all night so I can write these final two papers of the semester!

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Warning: Be prepared to become sick and tired of saying "congratulations" because this is only ceremony #2 of 4!

I consider this to be a snap shot of my accomplishments while at Cal. Yes, my department is missing, and its not because I don't consider earning a degree in Gender & Women's Studies an accomplishment, I just needed to highlight the areas of my life at Cal that meant the very most to me.

SPARR is the acronym for the Student Parent Association for Recruitment and Retention, of which I am a member and would not have survived as a student parent without. This organization is absolutely vital for parents on our campus and the wealth of information, resources, connections, support networks, food and just about anything else you can think of is incredible! Its not just an organization within an institution. Its more like a family of people who know your struggle, within an institution that often does not. So, to represent SPARR and my student parent family on my stole was a no-brainer.

Then there is the Incentive Awards Scholarship, which presented me with this stole the other night at our graduation celebration dinner. They are the very reason that I came to Cal. The UC system wasn't even on my list of possibilities. I had my little heart set on going to Cal State Long Beach (due to my infatuation with Snoop Dog) or another school that had a good journalism undergrad program. All that changed when I was nominated and won a full academic ride to Cal. 7 years later, here I am, an Incentive Awards Scholarship alumni... an Incentive Awards Scholar.

And no accomplishment is greater than the one I made on June 5th 2003, and again in January of 2004. The day that I gave birth to my little Baby Bear, and the day that I returned to Cal with that Baby Bear as a re-admit student (parent). She has grown up in the university and aside from getting that degree in the mail once all of my work has been completed, she is, without a doubt, my greatest achievement while at Cal.

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Mama,

I love, miss, and still long for you.

If only I could remember what your voice sounded like when you used to call me by my nickname,
If only I could remember what your laughter sounded like when we used to play the Nintendo,
If only I could remember what your skin smelled like when we used to lay in your bed together,
If only I could take one more late night trip with you to the store for corn dogs and fudge brownies,
If only you could be here to do all of those things, and so much more with your granddaughter...

For now, I will cherish what I do remember about you,

Like, the way you held my hand as we walked to school in the mornings,
Like, the way you passed down your intelligence and beauty to me,
Like, the way you made sure that I would be taken care of,
Like, the way your hand felt when I said my final goodbye,
Like, the way you loved me more than you loved yourself.

17 years and counting... I love, miss and still long for you.

Love,
Your BoBo

1. Apples are to oranges as common sense is to stupidity.

2. I like the idea of transcending categories and adopting the notion that we are many selves, and that's all I have to say about that.

3. I think I hear some baby making music.

4. Its a bird, its a plane, its a... flag.

5. Do what you want to do, but don't come running back over here crying when you fall off of there and damn near break your neck.

6. He was dressed in overalls, and behind him was a Radio Flyer wagon; in the wagon was a bucket filled with pink hearts and colorful butterflies because that's just how he liked to roll.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing a paper and emailing it to my professor, tomorrow my plans include taking Miss J to ANOTHER birthday party and then going to a friend's housewarming party and then making said friend take pictures of me in my cap & gown and Sunday, I want to pass out in my bed, but instead I will be making potato salad and yams to take over to grandma's for a Mother's Day dinner!

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And look who found a friend...

I couldn't resist getting in on the...

So...

Pre-baby, pre-college study, pre-big chop.

My prom was quite interesting. The dj seemed to play certain genres of songs in waves that caused all the Mexican students to dance at one time and then return to their seats while the Blacks and Asians danced to the rap and R&B. It was really weird since we didn't go into the event or socialize in school in segregated groups. It was almost as if the dj did it on purpose, which made him and our prom, as a whole, pretty darn wack.

For my friends and I, there wasn't much fuss over finding dates to the prom. We were all going as a group to begin with so we all just partied together. I did ask a really good friend at the time to accompany me though, and he ended up being the oldest date there, making him a bit of a prom veteran. Especially since my prom was the second he'd gone to that prom season. I did all of my preparations the same day and me and said date had to hall ass to my friend's house or be left behind by the limo driver. Not to mention we all had to hide our male companions from the mother of another friend who was being dropped off because... well, it just wasn't ok for a Pakistani girl to be even thinking about boys, much less riding in a limo, going to a dance and staying out half the night with 3 of them!

It wasn't a total loss though. I got to get all dressed up in a little asymmetrical black dress, silk my hair out, take pictures, talk about and chuckle at all the popular girls that always walked around like they were the sh*t, and share the night with my closest friends.


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1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is patience, which I definitely had to work on when I was "working in an office".

2. I have yet to try clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of high priced games that I never win and the most enjoyable rides ever.

4. Since flowers and grass make me cry in springtime, I can't say which is my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include an all-in-one printer and pictures of my little Miss J.

6. Hearing African drum beats makes me wanna get up and shake my shimmy.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to falling asleep while reading about street children, tomorrow my plans include taking Miss J to a birthday party and Sunday, I want to join in on the fun at a friend's baby shower!

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