Scholarly Fairy Tales (Brilliant students)

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*This thread is proposed to share the extraordinary achievements of our students and use them as further inspiration*

Located on the outskirts of Quetta, is the barren valley of Mariabad where the Hazara lead slow-paced lives. These tribal people, living in narrow brick huts speckled along the rugged hillside, typically sell loose cloth, sweaters or tea for their livelihood.
Like most poor people, their aspirations rarely go beyond sustaining themselves in this underdeveloped nook of Balochistan. Many of them live and die in Mariabad — unaware of the complex concerns and tremendous pace of life in urban centres like Karachi and Lahore.
But one student — the son of a trader who sold Quaid-e-Azam style caps in Mariabad for a living — dared to tread a radically different path. Karrar Hussain Jaffar transcended the confines of an obscure town in Balochistan, where people rarely educate themselves beyond matriculation, to study at the prestigious Harvard University. His story — a narrative about the wondrous possibilities of equal educational opportunities — is truly inspirational.
“My childhood friends, with whom I spent my youth playing cricket, drive suzukis and rickshaws in Quetta for a living, while I am a PhD student in the US,” says Karrar in a humble tone. “I often wonder why God chose me, out of all the people in my community, to get ahead in life?”
Karrar attributes his educational achievement to his father’s passion for his children’s higher education. He vividly remembers the chilly morning when his father showed him the ad for Lahore University of Management Sciences’ national outreach programme (NOP), which aimed to sponsor education and living expenses for capable students who could not have afford to pay.
“I was doing my FSc at Cadet college and didn’t even know a single thing about LUMS at that point in time,” he fondly recollects. “I didn’t take the ad seriously because LUMS did not offer engineering, the field I was interested in.”
When he returned back to college from his winter break, he attended a presentation by a LUMS’ faculty member, who introduced students to the national outreach programme.
“At the end of the presentation we all took a pre-screening exam,” he explains. “A few weeks later, I got a letter from LUMS inviting me to attend sponsored classes for SAT preparation.”
During the four weeks he spent rigorously studying for the SATs, he fell in love with LUMS. To him the institution seemed otherworldly; its grand building, spacious classrooms and impressive teachers fascinated him.
“I never knew things could be so orderly and perfect; it was like I was in a foreign country,” he remarks. “I felt very motivated to study hard and join the institution.”
But his herculean struggle with English often left him frustrated.
“I had always dismissed English as a colonial remnant in our country so I really struggled while preparing for the test.”
Yet with utmost dedication, Karrar managed to clear the screening exam at the end of the four-week training and was selected to take the SAT exams, sponsored by the university. After obtaining an impressive score in his SATs, Karrar got admitted in LUMS and was offered a full scholarship and a monthly stipend.
“I came to LUMS in very high spirits,” reminisces the bright student.
But Karrar, who had attended the NOP training program at LUMS during the quiet summer break, had never seen the institution in full semestral bloom. When he saw throngs of students, clad in western wear and fluent in English, emerging from every nook and cranny, his excitement gave way to culture shock.
“I was used to wearing shalwar kamiz, but at LUMS most people were wearing jeans. I would greet people by saying salaam, while the other students would ask ‘what’s up?’” he recollects in an amused tone.
Often feeling like a misfit during his first year at university, Karrar mostly spent his days with other NOP students. “But after a year I managed to befriend other students from Lyceum and Karachi Grammar school.”
He sheepishly adds, “After a year I figured out that ‘what’s up?’ is equivalent to saying salaam.”
Karrar graduated on the Dean’s honour list, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 and 3.68 in his majors, Maths and Economics, respectively.
“I got job offers in the banking industry after graduating but I turned them down because I wanted to tread an academic path,” he explains in a categorical tone.
A year after graduating, Karrar got a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US.
“I simply told the interview panel that I want to come back to Balochistan after completing my studies. That’s where my home is; that’s where I belong,” he explains passionately.
But perhaps the most memorable moment in his life — an incident he recalls quite animatedly — was when he found out that he made it to Harvard University.
“I had no internet at home in Mariabad so I walked 15 minutes or so to a nearby internet cafe to check my email for Harvard’s decision,” he explains. “When I saw the acceptance email, I just thought it was too good to be true.”
Yet after he raced back home to reveal the news to his parents, his moment of rapture soon transformed into a session of lengthy clarification.
“My mother asked me what Harvard was and my father asked me to wait for potential offers by other universities” he says with a laugh. “It took a while to convince them that I got into the world’s top university.”
But ironically for a student, who was left disconcerted by the ‘westernised’ student body at LUMS, adjusting to life at an American institution was smooth sailing.
“After LUMS, I was very used to being around different types of people so studying and living in the US was not such a problem.”
Karrar completed his Master’s last year and is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics from the University of Southern California.
What does he want to do with all the knowledge he is amassing?
“I want to increase educational awareness in Balochistan—particularly amongst people from my community,” he says.
The young academic’s goal might seem like the reiteration of the clichéd promise of “development” that many educated Pakistan promise their country. However, Karrar is actually a first-hand witness of how education can revolutionize communities and places.
“Because of all that I achieved, my parents allowed my sister to get college education in Lahore and my brother got the motivation to get a scholarship to study in Australia,” he says with a hint of pride.
Karrar confesses that most of his family and friends cannot even comprehend what his life is like in the US. But he is fairly confident that after he returns, he can change that.
“I can make them realise the value of education,” he says.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2011.

One student

 

[krash]

Two LUMS Physics Students to Study at MIT and UC Berkeley

February 21, 2013
After scoring a perfect 990 out of 990 on their Physics GRE – Muddassir Moosa (BS 2013) and Usman Naseer ( BS 2012) – students from the Department of Physics at Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), LUMS – have another set of wonderful news of fully funded PhD offers from the Center for Theoretical Physics at UC Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), respectively.

While in conversation about the latest on the academic front Moosa -- who is currently working on his final year project on AdS-CFT Correspondence, under the supervision of Dr. Babar Qureshi, Physic faculty -- shared that he is also independently studying Simple Lie Algebras and String Theory with Dr. Amer Iqbal and has a year more in his joining the programme in Berkeley.

Naseer, who was also a proud scholar of LUMS National Outreach Programme (NOP), shared that he is currently working as a Research Assistant to Dr. Qureshi (studying how to formulate quantum field theories on curved space-time) and will attend MIT from Fall 2013. He appreciated the support and guidance provided by the Physics faculty at LUMS who in his words are “enthusiastic and hardworking teachers responsible for encouraging the passion for Science in general and Physics, in particular.” While lauding the support which was offered by the faculty members at the Department of Physics in general, Naseer said, “Dr. Amer Iqbal, Dr. Babar Qureshi and Dr. Sabieh Anwar served as role models and great mentors for me. Over the course of my undergraduate years, I had the opportunities to take up courses with them and do challenging projects under their supervision which helped me immensely in developing my skills as a student of Physics. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Babar Qureshi for his continuous guidance and support which was not limited to academics only. Without his help and guidance all this would have been impossible.”

While commenting on the well-researched Physics curriculum taught at LUMS, Mossa said, “The curriculum that is followed by the Physics department here at LUMS is very similar to the curriculum followed by the Physics department in MIT. The courses offered are planned in such a way that by our senior year we know enough Physics to be able to sit for the GRE Physics paper.”

He added, “The faculty members in the Physics department are my source of inspiration. They had always supported and motivated me during the last 4 years. I would especially like to thank Dr. Babar Qureshi whom I am working with since my sophomore year. He had always pushed me to excel and taught me not to shy away from challenges. It was this hard work and perseverance which got me into UC Berkeley. I am also thankful to Dr. Amer Iqbal for his support when I was applying to UC Berkeley.”

While sharing his happiness for Mudassir and Usman on their placements in one of the most sought-after physics programmes of the world, Dr. Qureshi said, “This success is even more special because both of them were applying in the area of High Energy Theory which is the most elite branch of physics and notoriously difficult to get in due to very stiff competition. They owe this success to their hard work, dedication and perseverance all of which were made possible because of their genuine love for the field.”

On the basic formula behind their achievements, Naseer and Moosa unanimously agreed upon the importance of research and independent study interest among the students, from as early as undergraduate years, which was also endorsed by Dr. Qureshi in the following words, “Get involved in research projects with faculty members as soon as possible during your undergraduate education. It is the quality of your projects and research that can get you in at top places.”

Moosa emphasised on the significance of “work hard and not losing hope.” He shared, “Work hard on your basic concepts of Physics and Maths. Try to follow a teacher of your interest.”

Naseer, on the other hand had an equally powerful message for those aspiring to achieve their dreams, “Work hard. Follow your heart. Make friends and enjoy LUMS.”

Two LUMS Physics Students to Study at MIT and UC Berkeley

 

[krash]

Pakistan will never be a failed state because it is sustained by its brilliant brains who are making their mark in their respective fields and they are accomplishing this with all odds and unfriendly environment and weak economy. Alongside this, as conceded by the FBR, corruption, drugs trafficking, smuggling and other ills have contaminated the social fabric of the country. A seven-year-old student of Karachi made the nation proud by winning an international English language competition.

Zaid Siddiqui, a student of class II, is a resident of Bagh Korangi. He participated in International Olympiad of English Language event and secured the first position. Fourteen countries, including England and India, had competed in the event. He desires to serve the nation by joining the army.

Zaid’s elder sister, Sidra Siddiqui also bagged the 15th position in the same competition. The proud mother of two position holders say that she pays special attention to the study of their children. Kids’ father Asghar Siddiqui says that their children are free to select their career lines. Students like Zaid Siddiqui are the hope of Pakistani nation. The government should also support and encourage them to bring more laurels to the country.

A 12-year old student Babar Iqbal hailing from Dera Ismail Khan made a fourth world record in field of computer. Earlier, Babar, generally known as genius cyber kid, had set up three world records including Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) at the age 9 years, Youngest Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) at the age 9 years and Youngest Certified Web Professional Associate (CIWA) at age 10 years. While, the recent fourth record he made as Youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) at the age 12 in Dubai.

The participants of this competition were aged from 20 to 35 years. By making this record, young Babar surprised the IT experts from all over the world. He also surpassed his compatriot Irfa Kareem Randhawa, who made this record at the age of 9 years and seven months.

Babar was born in surrounding overwhelmed with computers and monitors on March 2, 1997. His two brothers and sisters (four in all) are Microsoft Certified Professional.

Similarly brilliant young girl Sitara Akbar, who was only 11 years old and set a world record in o-level.

A 15-year-old Pakistani student Moosa Feroz won a gold medal in an Online World Mathematics Competition held in Australia. Over one point, about 5 million children from 100 counties around the globe took part in the competition.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has invited an intelligent Pakistani student Shayan Anique Akhtar who set a world record in Microsoft Professional Certificate programme.

Malala Yousafzai, a brilliant and courageous girl student, is symbol of constant struggle and does deserve noble peace prize for her sacrifices and immense contribution. She is a proud daughter, sister and an associate known for being a children’s rights activist. Pakistan’s parliament and its forum on children rights floated the idea of awarding and nominating her with noble prize. It was this voice that later on was repeated and echoed by other bodies and organizations across the world.

British government is being pressed by Britons and people across the globe to nominate Malala Yousufzai for Nobel Peace Prize. “Thousands of people have backed a petition calling for her to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala is also receiving thousands of cards. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced November 10, 2012 and it was rightly celebrated as Malala Day the world over. Malala was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2011 for raising her voice for girls’ education in Swat.

This is time to rise and make a real contribution for the future generations of Pakistan. Our future generations and formidable security and economic challenges should not be obscured by a self-deluding rosy haze. Without cultivating and nurturing our brilliant brains and providing them safer environment, our country will not transform into an economic powerhouse and vanquish the scourge of terrorism. It is from this huge reservoir of brilliant brains that we are to make a mark and write a new chapter of Pakistan’s progress and prosperity.

A number of experts assert there’s hardly any tangible distance between the 20th and the 21st century for many children; time hasn’t changed for them, nor the system and environment in which they live and work even now. A beginning was made about 20 years ago, keeping in mind the Declaration of the Rights of the Child that “mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.”

Childhood for many children presents a different picture. It is a time for playing, for learning and for progressive maturation into productive adulthood. According to Article 11 of the Constitution, “all forms of forced labour and trafficking of human beings are prohibited” and “no child below the age of 14 shall be engaged in any factory or in mine or in any other hazardous employment.”

Let us think and be united for children rights and future across party lines. Let’s pause and think. Who’s the future of the country? If we as a nation have to progress and prosper, we should not ignore the development of a significant part of its human resources — our children and brilliant brains.

The writer is an MNA and Chair Person Parliamentary Forum on Children Rights.

Proud to be Pakistani: Our brilliant brains - thenews.com.pk