Author: firdssulaiman

I remember being in high school and wanting to fit in with most of the girls, straightening your hair was one of the first things you would usually do along with tweezing your eyebrows the thinnest it could possibly go without you being completely browless. I also remember a 13-year-old Firdous with a very curly and frizzy mane and it was spectacular! (I really wish I had pictures) but sadly I don’t. I was confident at the time with my hair, but the pressures in high school to look a certain way got to me and I decided to go for a treatment that would basically remove my curls and make it easier for my hairdresser to “handle”.

Doing this treatment called the reverse/straight perm was one of the biggest “beauty” regrets I had made in life so far, still competing with the very thin eyebrow phase. I continued doing this treatment for years – every six months continually for about 12 years. My curls were completely fried with years and years of blow drying and reverse perm treatments they were non-existent.

In 2016, I decided I was gonna “go natural”. I wanted my curls back and wanted that 13-year-old hair I once loved so much to make a comeback and I then decided to do the “big cop”. The big chop is basically cutting off all your damaged hair, and mine was very close to the roots which was quite a lot of damage. My first reaction after my big chop was “ what the hell did I just do?” I was very concerned about what people would say because trust me IT WAS NOT A GOOD LOOK, lol. 

My new look was very different from my long straight hair but I quickly became accustomed to it. I had curls on my head, for the first time in many years, there were a few, but I could see them popping and I was extremely excited about that. 

At first, I was trying to do everything I could to ensure my hair would grow as fast as it possibly could. I watched every Youtube video I could find, and tried every method and product I could afford. I was impatient, I wanted quick growth but it just didn’t happen.  

Patience is the most important part of your hair journey. It will allow you to enjoy the process and learn throughout your entire transition phase. It’s a difficult time, many days (especially the days when you want to go out) it was fueled with frustration and annoyance because I could not do much for it to look cute but once you put aside the growth process and concentrate on the health of your hair you will start seeing the results you desire.

I hope that anyone looking at transitioning and having a “big chop” as a 2022 goal, just know that it takes time, it causes a lot of doubts but it’s all worth it. I have never been happier with my hair, the way it looks and feels even on the bad hair days, It’s rewarding every step of the way!

What the hell did I just do?

Deciding how to get a story started has always been a challenge for me but referring back to the article by NPR’s Alison MacAdam about the questions beyond the 5 w’s has been an insightful breakdown on the questions you should ask before you start writing a story. 

The questions presented in my infographic are questions you should ask yourself in addition to the 5w’s: who, what, when, where, why and (a bonus, how). These questions are all fundamentals in what you should ask yourself before starting a story. 

What will your audience remember when it’s over?

You can build your stories to have the impact you want them to have — by keeping in mind what you want the audience to remember and working towards it as you report, write and produce. (And yes, you should always be prepared to pivot when you learn new things in the course of your reporting.)

Alison MacAdam former Senior Editorial Specialist with the NPR Training team.

I have never been a sports fan before, and I still don’t consider myself as one, but I have started to really enjoy the motorsport Formula 1 which I started watching in 2020. There is a great Netflix series called Drive to Survive about the challenges F1 drivers and their teams are facing in the season they are currently competing in and it is very interesting to watch. This series is the reason I have become so invested in the sport. 

Every second Sunday during the F1 season, two hours is specifically dedicated to race day in our home, I have never been this dedicated to watching a sport before. I scream at the tv and hold my head in agony every time there is a pit stop longer than 2.5 seconds.  I cannot believe who I have become.

 

This was the first time I have live-tweeted and I must say I enjoyed it. Play-by-play real-time updates of watching something and sharing your thoughts was a great experience. 

My Twitter thread was based on the battle for the championship of the 2021 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix. The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton the two biggest rivals in this year’s season. I have chosen to tweet about the race from beginning to end, with suspense and drama along the way. 

I made use of gifs and pictures to give the reader a visual experience too. I explained shortly about the two main characters of the story and what they were competing for. I made sure it was simple to read and easy to follow along. 

I hope you enjoyed and learned a thing or two about this exciting motorsport!

One of my favourite shows to watch is the hit tv show on HBO called Insecure, written, directed and played by herself as the main character is Issa Rae, a LA native and Stanford University graduate. The show is based around the awkward experiences of the black women in America and was created off of her hit Youtube web series The Mis-Adventures of the Awkward Black Girl. 

Issa has made it very clear in interviews that she wanted this show to portray the ordinary lives of black people especially black women and not the usual negative stories often told that are associated with black content on television. 

When the show aired in 2016, I have been hooked from the first episode. I saw myself on the screen, I saw my awkwardness and the woman trying to find herself and navigate her way around in this world, where women like us are not particularly seen, introverted and shy, and seeing that being portrayed on this show stuck with me and it is now 5 seasons in with the final season that has just aired a week ago.

The storytelling from this show is simple, raw, and current. The show is narrated by Issa about how she and her friends go about dealing with friendships and relationships, their jobs and social lives. The show speaks to millennials not knowing which direction to take in their lives and struggling to make important life decisions. It also tells a story about friendship, the ups and downs and how people evolve and the things and people that they once shared a great love for might be outgrown. 

Taking a look at a few of the principles of Pixar storytelling:

1. Stories are universal: Although this show is made to tell a story about black women growing up in a LA city it has resonated with so many women around the world, dealing with breakups, friendship or being stuck in a particular place in their lives.

2. Clear structure and purpose: The story has structure and referring to the story spine that it has a beginning, starting with Issa at a job that had her stuck for many years and in a relationship with a partner that had no ambition, The middle of the story a few seasons in and Issa decided to make a change, find a job she would be passionate about, dating people that had more purpose in their lives, and finding what truly makes her happy. In the end, while the show is still currently airing, [insert ending here], I have my own predictions on how the show will end. I’m hoping she finds her one true love, she becomes a very successful events planner for her community and continues to grow in all other aspects of her life. 

3. Good stories are simple: The story is focused on Issa and the people she has relationships and friendships with. How they deal with certain situations and overcome them.

4. Good stories give you a character to root for: Issa being the main character of the show, starting off with her having a hard time at the beginning of the show and how she has evolved for when the show 1st started – everyone wants to see Issa win!

What is so unique about Insecure to me is how the story focuses mostly on black culture, but how Millenials worldwide can relate in so many different ways, A great part of the show’s storytelling too is in particular scenes when Issa is going through something, there are scenes created of her in her bathroom, looking in the mirror and talking to her self, but this conversation turns into a rap battle with her self and her conscious (in the mirror) answering back at her which speaks greatly to her audience that love rap music. These rap sessions are a huge part of the storytelling and how she does her thought process, which has been a huge takeaway from the show. 

In many interviews, Issa Rae has been asked about her creative process and how she finds inspiration to tell the stories that she does and her answers are always that she creates for her audience, the people that look like her and have experienced what she has — The story is honest, it’s personal and real and that’s why this show will be stuck with me for many years to come.