Welcome!

Hi everyone, my name is Juveriah! I’m in my last semester here at UIC pursuing a dual degree in Global Asian Studies and Business Management. This is my first (and last, since I’m graduating soon!) semester being a blogger for UIC Radio! I’m a little nervous, but also really excited about this new endeavor of having a space to write about my millions of thoughts and interests. I said millions, but when I sat down to write this first blog a few days ago, my mind went blank. I had so many ideas in my head, and ones that I had written down, but I was getting too caught up in my own head. With that said, as I’m sitting here again a few days later, I'm feeling better now! It’s always a little nerve-racking starting something new, but sometimes, you just have to do it.

The first thing I want to talk about is the name of my blog: kahani.mag. The word kahani means story in Urdu, and mag is just short for magazine! I’ve always wanted to make my own magazine, so I think this is just me kickstarting another passion project. I also wanted to take a moment to talk about what I hope to do with this blog. I’ve never really done something like this before, having a space to write about my thoughts for everyone to see. I’ve written many papers in college so far, especially as a humanities major. But I’ve always answered certain questions from specific angles and perspectives using different sources and evidence, so it doesn’t really feel like it’s me that’s writing it. I had a lovely professor last semester, who, for the first time, critically analyzed and critiqued my writing. She gave such wonderful advice: what are you trying to say with your writing? It seems like a very simple question, but it really got me thinking! What am I trying to say? What message am I trying to send to whoever is reading it? Why am I writing in the first place? So, with this blog, I hope I can find my voice in my writing and answer some of these questions, or at least begin to!

Pinterest

Also, I mentioned earlier that I have many interests and intertwined thoughts. I love making connections between seemingly unrelated things that I’m passionate about, and I’m excited to share them through these posts!

To start, I love Cars, the Disney Pixar movie! Like LOVE, L-O-V-E. If I try, I think I could write the entire movie franchise’s script in a blog one day… On the note of Cars, the movie, I also really like to watch them race in real life! I’ve dabbled in a bunch of different motorsports series, but I’m most interested in Formula 1! I got into F1 last year, and this new 2026 season is going to be my first as a fully immersed fan! I also love hosting and planning events! I really enjoy decorating and devising fun ways to bring people together. I love baking too, even though I haven’t done it in a while, it still holds a special place in my heart! And, I love traveling and watching movies/shows (my favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender!). 

Besides those, I love learning about world history and new cultures, hence my major in Global Asian Studies. I took one Asian Film class my sophomore year, and my life quite literally changed after. Understanding the past and how it impacts the present is so, so interesting to me. The past two years of taking the classes for this major have also reconnected me with my own culture and history. Reading research papers, personal memoirs, and other literature on lived experiences, historical events, and diasporic narratives made me curious about mine! There might be a few history lessons or concepts I’ve learned in a class that I’ll incorporate into a few future blogs! 

As you can see, I like random things here and there, and once I get started talking about something, I just start to yap. I hope this wasn’t too long, and I’m excited to officially start this new experience and share my thoughts with you all! Be sure to follow kahani.mag’s official Instagram page to stay updated. And, stay tuned for new blog posts every Sunday at 4 p.m. :)