Helena Wang

Ramadan Day 22 (April 13, 2023):

Today, I had even worse allergies. Everyone who I would see would ask me if I was crying, or if I was okay because my eyes looked so horrible. I had a really tough time getting through school, and combining that with fasting made today not a very fun day to say the least.

Luckily though, when I got home, I was able to take my after school nap. I slept from Asr prayer till iftar time. It also started to hit me that Ramadan is so close to ending. I started to reflect on what worship and prayer I had engaged in over the course of the past few weeks, and I honestly felt like I did not do much. So in these last few nights I decided that I would step up the my worship by a lot.

Today my sister and I made baked homemade cookies for dessert after iftar, and they were delicious. I totally recommend eating a cool sweet treat after iftar.

Ramadan Day 23 (April 14, 2023):

I had a pretty easy day today. Luckily I got to leave school early today, so I was really happy. My allergies were not horrible either so that was a plus. Once I got home I got ready for Friday prayer. I saw a lot of my friends at the Mosque so that was a lot of fun.

Once I got home, I rested for a little bit before we went to the Mosque iftar. This was the last one of the month so it was very special and a lot of people came. We ate outside since the weather was good and it was just really fun in general. After helping cleaning up, we prayed Taraweeh.

Afterwards, I decided to read some Quran once I got home. I read a little bit before I went to bed, because today, the Friday khutbah, or sermon was about how you never know if you are going to make it to the next Ramadan, so it is important to make the most of it.

Ramadan Day 24 (April 15, 2023):

After what felt like such a long week, finally the weekend was here. I ended up sleeping in till noon. Unfortunately I had a huge amount of work to do over the weekend, and very little energy to actually complete it. After I woke up, I got through a little bit of work, but then took a three hour break.

Despite being the 24th day of Ramadan, tonight was actually going to be the 25th night. If you remember what I said in another diary entry, the odd nights of Ramadan are very sacred. So at my local mosque, the youth put together a Laylat-Ul-Qadr event for the youth.

It was a super fun event, and I was also able to engage in a lot of worship during the night, so I was very content with myself after that. I got home right before Sehri, and then crashed onto my bed.

Ramadan Day 25 (April 16, 2023):

After promptly waking up at 1:30 p.m. I had to finish a lot of work that I had decided to procrastinate. I had to finish my entire AP Seminar essay. Procrastinating during Ramadan is the worst because of just the low energy levels, you can never get anything done.

Today, one of my best friends invited me to an iftar party so after I finished my work I got ready for that. He invited us a few hours earlier than the actual iftar time, so when I got there we were able to have a lot of fun. My friend actually has a cat, and despite asking for a while, since my sister is allergic, I was never able to get one so it was fun to play with his cat.

We went to the Mosque for Taraweeh, but I left after the Isha prayer because tomorrow was a Monday, and I wanted to get some rest.

Ramadan Day 26 (April 17, 2023):

The school day was not too horrible. I was kind of tired by around 3rd period, but other than that I was relatively fine. The fact that in only 4 days I would be able to eat lunch at school again was mind blowing to me. After I took the bus home, I got to work, not taking my usual post school nap.

Tonight was the 27th night of Ramadan. Although the exact day of Laylat-Ul-Qadr is unknown, some scholars believe the 27th night to be a very probable option. So tonight I went to the Layat-Ul-Qadr event at Al-Azhar foundation. I stayed there until 2:30 a.m. Luckily, my mom had agreed for me not to go to school the next day so I did not need to worry about being super tired.

Ramadan Day 27 (April 18, 2023):

Something that always happens during Ramadan is almost not waking up for Sehri. Well that happened today. Since I was off from school today, I again woke up at 1 p.m. I watched my Ramadan drama episode of the day which is coming to an end. I finalized my outfit for Eid, which is always an annoyingly long process. It also turned out that my cousins were going to be coming over for Eid, so that was something to look forward to.

I was able to get a lot of work done today and studied for a lot of different tests that I had. It feels so weird that in only 3 days, I would be able to eat during the day again. I talked to my cousins for a while, and then prayed my afternoon prayer. After that I decided to make today a rest day, since I was really burnt out from the rest of week.

Surprisingly I was able to take a nap from 6 p.m to iftar time. Just like how I almost missed Sehri, I woke up about a minute before iftar happened, which again, was kind of shocking since I had woken up so late that day anyway.

Ramadan Day 28 (April 19, 2023):

Today was a exhausting day to say the least. Since I had not gone to school the day before, I had missed 2 tests. Luckily it was a gold day, but SRT only has 2 sessions of 60 minutes, which would not be enough for me to complete them. Somehow I managed and prayed to Allah that I did good.

After school, I went home and did some last minute work on my essay for my AP Seminar class. Unfortunately, I was unable to take my post school nap today, so I was really tired by iftar time. My mom and I drove to Fishers to go pick up our iftar, since my mom was to tired to make anything. It was delicious, but the drive was so long.

I stayed up for a little bit doing homework, but then immediately passed out on my bed, since I was so tired from the day, that I just went straight into a deep sleep.

Ramadan Day 29 (April 20, 2023);

At long last, the last day of fasting was here. I woke up for my final Sehri. I had become so used to my Ramadan daily routine that it would be hard to adjust back to my every day routine. I would miss my post school naps. I went to school, and the most torturous thing ever happened. In my Spanish class, they made popcorn. I was furious, since I only had one day left. This has happened twice now, just in this Ramadan where we were eating something delicious in my Spanish class, and I could not get to enjoy it.

Once I got home, I helped my mom clean the house, since my cousins where coming over today. I was super excited, as I had not seen them in a pretty long time. We got halal pizza for iftar, which was so good, and perfect to celebrate the last day of fasting. When we opened our fast that day, it officially marked the end of Ramadan. I really had a great month, and was able to reflect on my faith. Now it was time for my favorite celebration, Eid-Ul-Fitr.

Eid Day (April 21, 2023):

Finally, it was time for Eid. Despite being off from school, we woke up at 5 a.m. and got ready. After showering and putting on traditional clothes, we did a quick family photo shoot. We then went to the Indiana State Fair grounds where the Eid prayer was being held. Six different Mosque’s were coming together for this event, so there were going to be a lot of people there. In fact, there were 10,000 people who came.

After listening to the Eid sermon, we all went around and said Eid Mubarak, which is a traditional greeting for Muslim’s to say on Eid. It was pouring rain, so we had to stay inside so our outfits would not get dirty.

My mom was throwing a party at our house, so we all got ready for that and helped set up all of the food. There were a good amount of people coming so it was a lot of work. But it was all worth it, because I had a lot of fun, and we played card games, board games and enjoyed delicious food.

Once we gad cleaned everything up, we all sat down and talked, late into the night, before becoming so tired that we all fell asleep immediately.

So, that was my Ramadan experience. I enjoyed documenting day by day, and hoped you enjoyed reading!

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.