The older I am growing, I am starting to realize the world around me is filled with trouble and depression. We are constantly in competition to be the best and get more caught in the materialistic world around us. I realized I have to create an outlet for myself to move away from the negativity and focus on the positivity. I inherited my love for afternoon tea by growing up in a Pakistani household, where serving chai after a meal is mandatory. Some of my profound childhood memories are walking with my uncle and getting snacks for tea-time around 4 pm in Pakistan. It wasn’t until college, I realized the importance of afternoon tea.
My first two years of engineering college were very challenging, I was quite stressed with the workload and caught up in the materialistic world to get more. I used to take tea breaks and walk around the University of Michigan’s campus to catch fresh air and relax. The 15 minutes I took off from studying for my tea helped me become better at understanding myself. As a result, I ended up accomplishing more through my tea time. I realized I can easily become vulnerable by my surroundings and I have to continue to give myself some breaks. The college tea time breaks helped tremendously in my junior year. I started the year very stressed about getting an internship and being able to achieve in my undergrad. Towards the end of my junior year, I did study abroad in Germany and I went on a 6 months co-up, where I lived in a motel by myself. Thus, I kept my tea time, until this day. For me, tea-time represents a culture and lifestyle. I completed a five list on why you should have tea time for yourself. If you are a coffee lover, you can have coffee during afternoon tea. I occasionally have coffee too.