Sunshine Blogger Award

The other day, or should I say other…other day, I was nominated for the “Sunshine Blogger Award” which is exciting, uplifting and motivating in and of itself. This blog is my first time actually writing about myself and sharing my personal thoughts and experiences which has always been kind of difficult for me since I’m usually quite shy and reserved with what I share on-line and in person. However, thanks to all the great and wonderful bloggers I’ve met since creating this blog, I feel a strong sense of community with you all and I love reading all your wonderful posts every day or at least when I get a chance. It’s actually the highlight of my day, I get to catch up on news and learn from your experiences and it makes me feel enriched as a person.

I’d like to offer a special word of thanks to the fantastic blogger of gratefulsinglemoms for the nomination. I haven’t been reading her for very long, but I’ve found her posts so motivational and uplifting. As a daughter of a single mom, it’s a reminder for me to be appreciative of all the things that she went through to take care of me and it has given me a lot of insight into my own mom’s experiences because as kids we rarely see things as they really are. To me it’s a constant reminder of how lucky I am to have a strong female role-model and the power we all can possess when given a chance to flourish. I definitely recommend checking out her blog as I find it so inspiring.

Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:
-Thank the blogger who nominated you.
-Answer the 11 questions asked.
-Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
-List the rules and include the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.

My Answers

What is your blog about and what are your goals for your blog?

Well my blog is essentially an outlet for me to express myself since I’m the kind of person who tends to bottle most things up because I’m shy, quiet and lacked confidence to speak my mind. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of inspiring and positive influences in my life who’ve helped me become the person that I am today and I just wanted to share that with others. Positive influences like my mom, my family and my friends; the people I choose to let close to me who are essentially like my second family. I wanted to share the courage, the strength and inspiration that I’ve been fortunate to receive from those influences, especially since I know what it’s like to feel like no-one understands and no-one cares. Mostly I just want help people and be a positive influence on those who read my blog, by sharing with you all, my past, my present and my future. In doing so, I hope everyone’s outlook becomes a little brighter.

What are you most grateful for?

I would have to say I’m most grateful for my family, because of them I’m alive today. Especially my mom who raised me and I know that it was difficult because not only did she have to raise me alone, but she had to do it in a foreign country away from her support network. She did it to escape war and provide me with a future that I may not have otherwise received. It’s kind of funny to think about, but if it wasn’t for the choices that my parents made, I probably wouldn’t be here today blogging and I feel like this is exactly where I’m meant to be. I’m also grateful for my grandmothers for raising my parents and raising me, you both are forever in my heart and I love hearing stories that my parents would share. If you were to ask my mom however, I’m most grateful for popcorn as it’s my favourite comfort snack and how she bribes me into doing stuff.

Who do you admire most in life?

Other than my mom, I think I admire India Arie the most. Music has always been a major influence for me, I love singing, dancing (when no-ones watching), listening to music…it’s like a major part of who I am as a person. Her songs to me are about, love, courage and empowerment, she pretty much inspired me to make informed decisions about my life and my life choices with her music. My mom is even a fan of hers now, I feel she is the celebrity role-model that showed me that it’s okay to be different, be myself and treat others with respect (mom taught me that too, but it’s easier for kids to listen to their celebrity role-models than their parents). My mom is the non-celebrity person I admire most because she worked so hard to ensure my future, she’d talk to me and treat me like an adult and not a child when I was young. Not to mention all the little things she’d do for me even though she was crazy busy with work, like make me dresses, try to cook, and even our epic scrabble battles. I hope that when I eventually have kids, I can be half as good a mom as she was to me and instil in my kids the same values as she instilled in me.

What quote most inspires you?

“I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” – Neil DeGrasse Tyson

This quote pretty much sums me up as a person.

What is one characteristic you wish you possessed?

Sometimes I wish I was fearless, I’d often let my fear of the unknown hold me back. I’m actually working on that at the moment, I’m expressing myself in my writing and putting my heart out there. I know that not everyone will like what I do, but I tell myself that it’s ok to be scared as long as I’m willing to take the plunge doing something that I love.

If you could make a living doing anything, what would it be?

Very difficult question, I would like to be in a position where I can set up hospitals back home and around the world in developing countries, hospitals that meet the world standard and that greatly improve the health of the community. Otherwise I’d like to be in a position where I could travel and teach others about ways they could improve the health of their community without having a negative impact on their cultural values. However if I can’t do those things myself, I’d like to be in a position where I can inspire and motivate those who go on to do those things.

What is your greatest victory?

My greatest victory would have to be doing microbiology and clinical microbiology at university, especially since I’ve had mysophobia since I was young due to a traumatic “incident”. Now I’m able to work effectively and efficiently around my phobia in order to identify causes of infection to help others.

What are you most passionate about?

Art in all it’s forms, whether it’s music, writing, drawing and cooking. Love the act of creating and self-expression, second to that I’m passionate about good physical and mental health.

What could you do to improve your life tomorrow?

I think I could study for my upcoming exams with my classmates and form a study group so we can help each other learn. I could also work on becoming more organized and not leaving things to the last minute, like shopping when I’m almost out of food, not when I’ve already run out. However a bigger goal which I’m not likely to achieve would be to reduce pollution levels in major cities, help with food shortages around the world and cure cancer.

What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

I think the most courageous thing I’ve ever done is actually try modelling, I’m a little bit self-conscious about my looks and I’m short….170cm which is apparently too short, but I actually managed to get all the way to the national finals qualifier round of a national modelling competition and to the finals of a pageant. I’m pretty shy and didn’t really have the confidence to put myself out there until about a year ago when I decided “why not!”. I still have people telling me I can’t do “that” because of my height and my shape, but I actually put myself out there when I didn’t have to and I think it’s pretty brave considering one of my biggest fears is standing up publicly and being laughed off stage (that’s actually happened before).

Who do you admire most?

I admire people who are brave and put themselves out there, all the bloggers I currently read and all the new blogs I’m still finding. You’re all amazing and worthy of admiration

 

My Nominees

There are so many wonderful blogs out there that I’ve had the privilege to read, however I can only nominate a few.

• Pearls and Grit
• Undeniably Sara
• My Library and other Mischief
• Life by the pages
• J. A. Allen
• Tampa by Florence
• Joseyphina
• Nikki
• Sam, Living
• Nia
• Sintim Speaks

 

My Questions

1. What have you always wanted to be growing up?
2. If you could tell your teenage-self anything, what would that be?
3. If you could meet anyone from any time period who would it be?
4. Who would you say is your biggest influence?
5. What is your guilty pleasure?
6. What is your idea of a perfect rest day?
7. What is your favourite day of the week and why?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
9. What is your favourite film or book growing up?
10. If you could work on a project with anyone from any time period, who would it be and what kind of project?
11. What kinds of things bring you joy?

 

I look forward to seeing your responses and I feel so privileged to be a part of such an amazing community.