It all began in 2011, when I completed my A levels from Divisional Public School, Dera Ghazi Khan, and started applying for a Bachelors program to various universities. I was clear to the extent of what disciplines I wanted to pursue, but nothing more than that of course, as I was straight out of college where people around only talked about appearing in either ‘MCAT’ or ‘ECAT’, which is a test for entering a medical school and an engineering school respectively. Studying any subject other than Natural Sciences or Mathematics was not less than a taboo, but deep down, I knew that they were not meant for me.

I wished to study literature, history, political science and everything else that I could. As luck would have it, I eventually got in Forman Christian College. The realization that it was the best I could get in the terms of diversity of subjects and the quality of faculty came much later. Nonetheless, the experiences of learning, reading and writing had started soon after entering FCCU. The departments had a great deal to offer to the students, with a spectrum of courses being taught by one of the best faculty in Lahore.

The entire process of learning that I underwent at FCCU, over a period of four years, prepared me for the phases that followed. Graduating from FCCU with M.Shafi medal, for scoring the highest CGPA in Social Sciences gave me that confidence and basic required skills to enter in Heidelberg University, Germany, for a Masters in South Asian Studies, which was no more than a dream coming true.