A warm hello to those who read my little blog posts. I hope you’re happy and well ❤ This is going to be one hell of a story so strap in!

For my whole life I’ve been the biggest people person. I love being around them, I love knowing them, and I love meeting them. Talking to people is my favorite part of being alive – it keeps me going. This goes so far back that there was a time in my life during kindergarten where my mom would drop me off early with a little treat so I could sit down and talk to my favorite teacher before we started classes. My love for human connection has really paved the path of my life thus far and everything I choose to do with it from this point on.

At around 10th grade, the idea of picking an undergraduate major was first seriously introduced to me. I was at such a loss for what I wanted to do with my future, that I decided to take a bunch of random online tests to see what the internet thought I should major in. I didn’t think those quizzes would be helpful – oh but little did I know… I must’ve taken at least 5 or 6 of these quizzes, until one of them introduced me to the word “psychology”. I’ve always known that the field existed, but it never seemed like an attainable career. However, it was an instant spark and from that point on. Ever since, I’ve been dedicated to making that once distant field – a field I was immersed in.

In the summer between 11th and 12th grade, I got into the UC Berkeley Young Scholars Program, where I spent 6 weeks living on campus and taking two college level courses. I did this so I could take PSYCH-101 and make sure that I liked what I was applying to major in that fall. As anticipated, I fell in love with the course, as it was the first time in my life that I took an academic class that was nothing short of interesting. I could go on and on forever about how interesting it is to learn about the organ that makes us who we are, but I won’t because this is not that type of blog post lol. I digress, come 12th grade, I applied to a bunch of schools in the U.S. as a Psychology major. One thing lead to another, covid hit, and I started my studies at Mount Holyoke College. I completed my first year fully remote and moved to little South Hadley, Massachusetts in my sophomore year. Sophomore spring, I declared my major *officially*, and then I took every class at my disposal in the Psychology department. Which brings us to junior year spring – where I started to panic about what on earth I was going to do a year out from now *yikes*.

I was lucky enough to get an internship back at home where I shadowed in a psychiatric clinic for a couple of months over the summer. I had the best experience, and it was the exact exposure and experience I needed to confirm to myself that I really did want to pursue this as a career. I grappled for a while with the idea of attending graduate school straight after undergrad, but with a little push here and there, I applied to three master’s programs – two in counseling, and one in psychology en route to a PhD.

I bet you’re wondering what that “little push” was? Well, here’s a little story that had a big imprint. Right after my internship, my family and I traveled to Chicago as a little getaway before dropping my brother off for his first year at Purdue University, Indiana. In those two-ish weeks that we were in Chicago, I distinctly remember wandering those sun filled lively streets and thinking to myself “wow this would be a great place to live”. That was not the push though. The push was my dad walking with me and telling me I should apply to Northwestern University for graduate school, as it is one of the top universities and I could pursue my career as a practicing therapist after getting my masters. At that point, I was hesitant and I kind of just brushed it off. I didn’t think much of it, until I started my senior year in the fall.

My senior year started off so sweet, and I started looking into graduate school programs. I knew right off the bat that I was only applying to a few – only programs I liked that could offer me the tools I needed to be a practicing clinical psychologist in the future. It wasn’t easy, in fact, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It is not that the applications were incredibly hard, or the fact that I was balancing that pressure with classes and other things. It was the level of self-doubt that met me as I started the process of my applications that was terrifying. Nothing had felt as impossible as this felt. It seemed so out of reach that I was giving up before even trying. I just didn’t want to put myself though the pain of trying just to be crushed at the end. Nonetheless, I persevered and gave it my best shot. I submitted my applications in early December, and during WHIRLWIND of a winter break – I received the best and most nerve-wracking email ever. I landed an interview with Northwestern! That, to me, was achievement enough because I was so doubtful that I was even worth looking at my application, that for them to want to even get to meet me was achievement enough. I don’t feel the need to spill about why I was as insecure as I was, but it is an important part of my story. I was never the star student growing up. I wasn’t the exceptional over-achiever or the one that got rare opportunities. I took my time in college to do everything I possibly could. To reset from who I was in high school, and to transform into who I longed to be. I wanted to be the best version of myself, and I wanted to achieve great things and that interview was a reflection of all the work I have done this far.

I had exactly ten days to prepare for that interview, and I simply did not know how to. So, as I usually do, I just trusted my gut and mustered whatever confidence I had left and went in head first into this interview. I was surprised by the fact that it was a group interview (when a group of candidates are interviewed at the same time), but in the least cliché way possible, I had to really stay true to myself to stand out in this interview. In an interview full of accomplished candidates – its your personality and character that set you apart. I found a way to talk about my passion for unlearning perfectionism and all the things that make who I am.

2 weeks later, I was sitting in the dining hall about to start eating my meal when I got an email from the Doctor who interviewed me saying I got into the program. I GOT INTO MY DREAM PROGRAM. I did. Me. Danyah. It was the proudest I’ve ever been of myself and the most excited I’ve been in a long time. It was the sign that I needed as I wrap up my time at Mount Holyoke, that I am good enough. I got into one of top 10 universities in the United States, one of the top programs in Mental Health Counseling, and I am 1 of 35 people who were given a place in the 2024-2025 cohort. It sounds so unreal and I hate to sound braggy, but I truly cannot believe how far I’ve come in the 4 years of my undergraduate studies. I waited so long to outwardly say it to people who weren’t in my direct circle because I was afraid to jinx it. But, as of yesterday, I have officially accepted the offer and if all goes according to plan, I will be attending The Graduate School at Northwestern University (specifically, The Family Institute) in the fall.

All this started from a single walk around Chicago, and it’ll be exactly a year later that I will be moving into the city 🙂 This was all a longwinded way of saying: trust the timing of your life. It’s easier said than done, but I am living proof that everything had to happen the way it did because it all leads to somewhere. Everything has its time, and if it’s not now, trust that it does not mean never – it means just a while. Just as I had made peace with not having my plans for post-grad figured out, my life took a 180 turn. It will all be okay in the end, and everything will figure itself out, you just have to trust yourself and know that you are worthy. As cheesy as it sounds, you need to consistently remind yourself that. Life it too short to not be proud of who you are and what you’ve done.

Thank you to everyone who has played a crucial role in getting me this far. To my career advisors and professors who helped me tremendously. To my friends, who got me through all three years and especially the last one. To Mount Holyoke for allowing me to grow and giving me the opportunity to achieve everything I wanted to. And most importantly, to my parents, who I love so deeply and who believed in me when I couldn’t. I am me because of you, and I hope I’m making you proud. You repeatedly tell me you’re always proud of me, but I am proud of you. You have raised 5 children in a loving and supportive household, and have always pushed us (and continue to push us) to pursue our passions. Anything I do, I do for you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you everything. This one is for you ❤

Danyah