LUMS CONTRIBUNAL - Lahore University of Management Sciences

LUMSContribunal 13Realizing dreams and ambitionsto their Geneva office for approval. There were 12people whose applications were forwarded to Genevaoffice, out of which 7 were selected and I was notamongst those seven. This was very disheartening forme.My father’s dream was that I should appear in theCSS exam and become a government official, so Itook admission in a CSS preparation academy. After3 or 4 days of my joining the academy, I got an emailinforming that I had received the Oxford scholarship!I was overjoyed.I had received the Oxford University’s internal scholarship,the Noon Educational Foundation Scholarship,which is very prestigious because they maintainvery high criteria. This scholarship is just likethe LUMS NOP; the University receives grants fromvarious people and then decides to whom the grantgoes to. Oxford gets grants from the Noon EducationalFoundation and then distributes them to the deservingstudents. This scholarship is specifically given toPakistani students.Q. Tell us about your experience at LUMS. Was itdifficult to settle in?ANS: No, it’s harder for people who come from far flungareas. It was easy for me as I spent my whole life inLahore and studied in institutions like BeaconhouseSchool System.Q. Now that you are at Oxford, pursuing your MSc,what do you foresee for yourself in the future?What do you want to do after you get your degree?ANS: I am thinking of taking a break when I come back, asI got married recently and want to spend some timesettling down, after which I want to do my PhD. Myhusband is very proud of the fact that his wife is goingto Oxford. He is constantly telling me to complete myPhD requirements while I am at Oxford.Q. How long is your MSc programme? Would yoube doing your PhD in the same field?ANS: The duration of the MSc programme is one year. Iwould like to do my PhD in the same field from eitherOxford or Cambridge.Q. What do you plan to do after you are done withyour studies?ANS: I would like to come back to LUMS and teach here.Also, I have a couple of friends from the anthropologystream who are establishing a social sciencesresearch based company. Some of my friends arewriting research based articles for newspapers. So,the ground is being prepared for people from our fieldand LUMS has played a major role in this. LUMS encouragesresearch and helps authors get it published.It promotes free thinking and moving beyond closemind sets which are plenty in Pakistan. When yougraduate from LUMS, you can pursue anything.Q. What advice would you give to somebody applyingto LUMS through NOP?ANS: I will just tell them one thing that if you come throughthe NOP, make sure that you don’t waste the donor’smoney and a deserving applicant’s seat. If you cometo LUMS, it’s your responsibility to make the bestof this opportunity granted to you because of somebody’sgenerosity.Q. Did you feel more pressure to succeed becauseyou were from the NOP stream?ANS: Yes! Being honest, I was making sure that my personalefforts, my teachers' efforts and most importantly,the generosity of the donors funding our educationdon’t go waste. My dream is to come back to LUMSand fund someone’s education as someone fundedmine.