18 now. What now?

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin, Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik wa karrim ala sayyidina Muhammad, al-fatih lima ughliq, wal khatim lima sabaq, wannasiril haqq bil haqq ila siratikal mustaqim. Sollallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdarihil adzim.

As the clock struck midnight, many things struck my mind. Questions surface. So now, I am 18. And so i question myself, what have I done with my 17th year of life. 20 Dec 2012-19 Dec 2013 was indeed a trying period. Obvious reasons and also not obvious ones too.
1. A Levels the king of all stresses.
2. Semarak Temasek 2013, planning a huge event which I hope was a success.
3.Re-papers in early 2013 to redeem myself.
4. Friendships and rejections, something I have faced all my life but somehow more pronounced during this period.

Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. As it may seem, 2013 looked like a gloomy year. Many upsets. Many disappointments. But despite all that, Praises be unto Allah for guiding me through those problems, for sending me the many numerous people to care for me and show concern towards me. May all of them be given rewards for their wonderful help. My 17th year is when many things happened. Many of which I did not expect to happen, be it in a good or bad way. To be absolutely frank, I really don't know whether my 17th has been good or bad. But like always, look on the bright side so I'd say yes, it has been a good year for me. Why you might ask? This period has indeed taught me many things. Chief among those is that, we do not get everything we ask for. Many things are out of our control. And I must learn to accept that fully and accept that. My 17th year is also when I met many awesome people and got close to those who really mattered. Shoutout to my sons to whom I feel guilty for neglecting the past 2 years; Hafiz, Hariz, Nicholas Khor, Ezra and Khairul. They have never made me feel out of place and accepted me as one of theirs despite being apart for so long. Also to my friend I never ever expected to make via Semarak Temasek 2013, Nurul Syahirah. I really am amazed by our friendship thus far and I really pray for more years to come insyaAllah. To my awesome brother/syaikh/jash whom I always forget to mention, Omar Rami Nazzal with whom I shared 3 years of friendship with for always allowing me to rant to. To my awesome CG-mates gang, thanks for always making noise with me in class and for pushing me in my academics! (Amrit, Nich Thong, Winson, Ben, Daniel and Richard) And a surprise shoutout to Fayyadhah, my dear Arabic classmate for being a true friend despite rarely seeing you and talking to you. Thanks for allowing me to share my problems with you. Of course to the always there for me crew, the awesome MCS people of TJC with special mentions of Humaira and the Jumaat guys gang for all the laughter! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH TRULY! I am very positive my 17th would not have been the same without you guys.

Looking forward, now I am legally 18. What do I need to look forward to? Well in the immediate future, my KL and Kampong trip and then the all awaited MCS dinner! Of course then 2 months of working at my primary school before getting my A Level results! This is then followed by NS and what not.... While I think my 17th year was already unique, I have this strong feeling my 18th will be even more awesome! I'm praying to Allah for an awesome 18th year. And to all my readers a Happy New Year of 2014! :)