A Look Back with Tasneem Ali
By Tasneem Ali – a HSPS graduate
Assalamu alaykum,
Alhamdulillah I’ve now graduated with a degree in HSPS. I thought now might be a good time to make a contribution to the ISoc blogs page, as I know I liked reading posts on here written by other people. However, as writing in prose about myself just gives me cringe-inducing flashbacks to doing UCAS applications, I’ve written a short-ish (though quite possibly equally cringe-inducing) poem for you all to read. I hope you’ll enjoy it…
When I think about the years gone by
I think of Cambridge, I’ll tell you why
It’s where I studied, and to my surprise
It felt like home, beneath those skies.
My first few weeks were kinda strange;
I’d never been a fan of change.
Yet there I was, not as afraid
As I’d expected to have been made.
I found the ISoc at fresher’s fair
On Parker’s Piece – I’d gone straight there
For free pizza, and to meet some friends
Plus, of course, collect free pens.
The ISoc stall’s not one to be missed;
I signed up to the mailing list,
Picked up a fresher’s bag (FOSIS) –
Free pen inside! Ah, such bliss.
I didn’t know then, that I had found
The place and people I’d be around
For years to come. Even now,
We try to keep in touch somehow.
Until the end, and from the start,
Weekly events were my favourite part
From Friday Prayers, to Ramadan iftars,
And Homeless Outreach, beneath the stars.
We also had weekly Tafsir
And the foundations course in my third year,
Sometimes even Fajr club,
If – early enough – you could get up.
My time at uni, luckily,
Was so much more than my degree.
I cried, I laughed, made memories.
Midst all the hardship, there was ease.
So if you’re feeling out of sorts –
Swamped with essays or reports,
Missing deadlines or missing home –
Know that you are not alone
If you want to see a friendly face,
The Prayer Room is just the place,
But if it’s shut during the fall,
Meet them virtually, on a Zoom call.
I wish you, Reader, all the best
With every trial and Tripos test
And I truly hope ISoc will be
As good for you as it was for me
‘Cos when I think about the years gone by
I think of ISoc, I’ll tell you why
It’s where I spent much of my time
It’s the reason why I wrote this rhyme.