March 27, 2026

March 27, 2026, 3:51 P.M. 

After a week of calm, not receiving alerts and without any interceptions heard or shaking my doors, I felt hopeful that this will all come to an end soon. However, this morning we received an alert at 9:52 A.M., “The security threat level is elevated.” I was getting ready to go out with a friend for brunch, but the sound of the alert made me pause, a feeling of dread settling in my stomach. I consciously felt my hope diminish in that moment, just from a sound. A sound that causes my heartbeat to fasten and my anxiety to heighten. After weeks of it waking me up throughout my sleep, my body adjusted to it. Now, I wake up several times during the night against my will. I haven’t had a full eight to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep since February 28 even without the alert and even after taking a sleeping pill. 

On the day of February 28 I was supposed to get graduation pictures taken with two of my friends. Obviously, that was canceled. I still have the graduation attire I borrowed from Facilities Management, and every time I see it I feel a tug at my heart. One of them left for her home country a few days after the war broke out, and even though I can, my heart won’t allow me to take the pictures without her. 

I think that being a senior makes this 10x more difficult for me. It feels like my last days at GU-Q are being robbed from me right in front of my eyes and there is nothing I can do about it. I am actively seeing my “100 days 100 people” project going down the drain, a project I wanted to share with various people in the community. 

I dedicated so much to this university and its community out of love—deep pure love for the people. I also got so much in return, so much love and immense growth. I found my people here and made so many precious memories, and for that I will forever be grateful. 

There is much to be grateful for during this time. I am able to go out normally, spend time with family, and see my friends who are still in Qatar. Most importantly, I am safe. Regardless of how scary the alerts and interceptions are, I still feel very safe thanks to our incredible defense force, may God protect them. 

I am spending my day-to-day normally, but what bothers me in the back of my mind is that this is not my normal. My normal routine involves me going to university and spending time there. Of course, I always knew that eventually that will cease to be my normal after graduation, but I wasn’t ready for this abrupt stop. I was building up to mentally prepare for graduation and to decrease my attachment to GU-Q, but now I’m left stunned, not knowing how to emotionally overcome this. There is so much I miss and long for, even the simplest things like taking a walk to Multaqa with my friends. I miss moving from table to table, from office to office, interacting with so many people in one day. I miss the people, I miss you all, I miss you, yes you, whoever you are reading this. 

May we come back together sooner rather than later. 

EDIT - March 28, 2026, 1:23 P.M. 

“Well now my write up is useless..”

“Just write ‘I so manifested this’ and put this emoji 🤭” - Noor 

I so manifested this 🤭

EDIT - March 29, 2026, 8:22 A.M. 

One thing I’m learning from this war period is that so much can change in just a few hours. I woke up a few hours ago, at around 4 A.M., and saw all the messages sent on the “GU-Q in Qatar” group chat that were about Iran’s plans to target Israeli and American universities in the region after their own universities were targeted. Now, I woke up again to Dean Masri’s email announcing remote operations for the time being. 

Just yesterday I was feeling happy and hopeful, finally some good news! Now, all that simply feels like a dream I had, just a fleeting moment that left quicker than it came. Looking back at my previous edit, I can feel how lighthearted I felt in the moment just laughing with Noor. The two of us met up a lot during this month, finding great comfort in one another, but we were so excited to see each other in GU-Q. 

My hope is diminishing again, but not for long I hope. Inshallah, future developments will bring us towards the end of this all. 

Once again, may we come back together sooner rather than later.