Into the Storm.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I was the Secretary of my university's Student Representative Council for the 2013/14 session. Regular readers may also know that I did not enjoy it, and may have guessed that I'd had enough of it and would not be running again so I could focus on other things.

Well, that guess would be partly true. I had had enough of it, but I am, in fact, running again - this time for Deputy President.

I might be a fool for jumping straight back into the storm after having only recently escaped it, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. A real opportunity for change at MIU is afoot, and I want in.

The SRC this time around will be different from the previous versions, and not just because the  rules and structure have been completely revamped. Out of the ten people who formed the last SRC, I'm the only one vying for any position this time around.

The election this year will be different as well - the candidates will be campaigning, just like how it's done at other universities. Personally speaking, I hate marketing myself, and, naturally, I'm dreading all the self-promotion I'll potentially have to be doing.

Of course, I wouldn't have to do any campaigning if I happened to be the only candidate contesting the position, like last time. This time, though, I'm up against the guy who was the first-ever president of the SRC. From what I've heard, he seems likely to provide some tough competition. Still, at least I only have one rival - there must be three or four candidates running for each one of President, Secretary and Treasurer.

Well, another semester, another challenge. All these extra activities I'm doing may mean that I'm constantly distracted from my studies (I'm taking six subjects this semester, too), but to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm no bookworm - I can't sit around and do nothing but study for four months.

I still hope I can get back to getting a perfect GPA again, though, in spite of everything. This is looking to be yet another long, hard semester - albeit an interesting one.

The Move.

It's been three weeks since the new semester started, and things haven't been too bad. My friends who'd been on holiday during the last semester came back, I did some volunteer work at a kindergarten sports day, and my results turned out slightly better than I had expected. All in all, it's been a bright-ish start to the last semester of my second year.

The biggest thing that's happened to me recently, though, would probably be my moving into a new house with new housemates. What I mean by this being the biggest thing is that this is the event that looks to have the biggest impact on my life from now on.

I'd previously been renting a two-storey terrace house with some friends since early last year. We've been pretty much the same core group since then, give or take a few exits and new arrivals, and I appreciated that this arrangement gave me an element of stability that I otherwise lacked in almost every other aspect of my Manipal life. No matter what subjects I'd be studying, who I'd be having classes with, which people I'd be talking to on any given day, I always knew that in the end I'd still be going home to the same house, and with the same people. It was like having a second family.

Eventually, however, the non-Muslims in my house told us Muslims that they wanted to move out as they wanted to cook and eat pork. This was because they respected that we didn't eat pork, and would feel guilty about preparing it and eating it in our presence. Given this explanation, I figured that since they respected that we didn't eat pork, it would only be fair if we respected the fact that they did eat pork and accepted that they wanted to move out so they could cook it.

I initially felt a bit sad about the whole thing. I mean, we'd been living peacefully and somewhat blissfully for over a year, paying decent rent for a fairly comfortable house - and they wanted to do away with that just because they wanted to eat pork?

I guessed that they could afford to move out; after all, they were all still going to be together. The only difference would be that they could now eat pork, drink alcohol, adopt a dog, and even get faster internet - it was a definite win for them, even though they would likely have to pay more for rent.

That's just life, I guess. These things happen, and that's okay. We're all still friends, and I bear no grudge against them. Instead, I chose to see it as an opportunity for change.

I've moved into an apartment with a couple of friends (who happen to be Pakistani brothers from Saudi Arabia), and I have to say the change in scenery is refreshing. I've only been here since Monday, and I'm still getting used to my new routines and surroundings. The guys are nice, and since there's a surau literally a stone's throw away, we often go there for congregational prayer. Life here's been good so far, and somewhat reminiscent of my time in Madinah earlier this year. 

(This isn't the first time I've lived in this area, though. I spent less than a week in a different unit under the Manipal hostel when I first came to Nilai before moving into the aforementioned two-storey house.)

This move has been the latest change of surroundings in my young life, and after having previously spent time in four primary schools, two secondary schools and one other tertiary education institute, I am confident that living here will be good for me.

Stability is fine and all, but the only way to learn new things is by doing new things. Don't shun change; embrace it.