Greetings from Michigan

As taken from the MD HEU Facebook page, a lovely message from an Ex-MDian Norzaidah Mardani, a 2008 MinDef Scholar who is now studying Political Science at University of Michigan

Salam :)

I am from the MD 06/07 intake and Alhamdulillah I am now studying in the United States-- well, in the state of Michigan to be exact, majoring in Political Science and another major or minor to be decided soon insyaAllah.

I am a freshman (US term for first year student) with sophomore standing. Basically that means in terms of American college level, I am a second year student. A lot of universities consider Advanced Levels as a first year status. I am currently enrolled at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor campus. It's a public university, meaning it's funded for by Michigan taxpayers and the federal government. The university is well known for having many of the courses listed as top ten in the United States. In my case, Political Science is ranked fourth, just after Yale University.

My decision to elect Political Science stemmed from my own interest in politics and history. The term 'political science' is to come up with an objective, systematic way of analyzing political climate. Having been a student at Maktab Duli, with Sociology, History and Literature in English, I thought that the analytical skills and argumentative approach would be of great advantage to my chosen field of interest.

The University of Michigan is located just a few minutes downtown Ann Arbor, a small town, yet vibrant and diverse in its community. Alhamdulillah, as far as my experience is concerned, halal food is not a problem and safety-wise, the University places that as top priority for its students. There is also an Islamic Center just a few minutes away from the University's Engineering campus.

The university uses many abbreviations, given the numbers of other state-run universities carrying the name Michigan-- U of M, UMich (pronounced mish), or simply Michigan when you're one of the students here. Michigan is pretty much well-known for its Big Ten tournament, the Midwest regional championship for college American football. Our school mascot is a wolverine (yes, I found out it is a real animal) and we live by the colors maize yellow and blue. It is a tradition to wear maize yellow or any Michigan paraphernalia when one watches the college team play and the Michigan Stadium (also known as the big house) prides itself in being the largest stadium dedicated to football in the world.

Among Michigan's famous graduates are playwright Arthur Miller (All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible), late US President Gerald Ford, and of course the Golden Boy, Olympic medalist Michael Phelps.

Although the state of Michigan is located at the northern region of America, with unpredictable winter season and frigid weather (-21 degrees Celsius and barely bright sunshine), it makes us appreciate the environment (warm weather is indeed a blessing even if for a few hours) for one thing. Having come all the way Brunei and never experienced snow, I find that winter season was indeed a trying time. But Alhamdulillah, the flowers have bloomed on the roadsides, so we all think spring has finally arrived. :)

I would have to say that the journey is not easy, as far as the struggle with Advanced Levels is concerned. Being away from the comforts of home can be a huge challenge even for me, but with Allah's guidance and (very important!) the right crowd/circle of friends, and not be afraid to speak up and use the resources available in the university, the journey will be at most smooth sailing insyaAllah. What's not to love about spending a day out in the park when it's nice outside, and read a book or feed the squirrels to take your mind off schoolwork?

And I have to say this myself: It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!

Norzaidah Mardani
B.A. Political Science
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. "

Profile of Zaidah can be found here

Thank you very much Zaidah, we are very much pleased to hear from you! Do take care there, remember, we're back home rooting for you ;)

For any ex-MDians who wish to help others by sharing your lovely experiences or just telling us how you're doing, please do leave a message or post at the Facebook page or drop us a line anytime! :)