What It Takes to Overcome Your Fears

“When I was 7-years old, I liked flying kites from the roof of our house. One day, I fell down from the same roof and faced an accident which left me with a speech impediment. As I grew older, my condition got worse, not because I could not speak properly, but was subject to bullying by the society. It was almost like taking all dreams from a child and throwing them away to make him believe that he is incapable. I thought schools would not accept me as well and if they did, I would still face bullying. It was a turning point in my life when I was accepted by the Aga Khan Higher Secondary School (AKHSS), Chitral. I still could not complete a sentence without stuttering and studying the AKU-EB system was a big challenge. But things were different. My condition was not seen as an issue by teachers and students. I was never treated differently from the rest of my classmates. Elected as a class representative during the same year, I was involved in many extracurricular activities. I was motivated to cure my speech stutter with teachers’ encouragement to access all possible opportunities and allowing myself to take lead and responsibilities. Later, I was the co-founder of Student Empowerment Forum, President of AKHSS Drama Club, an active member of the school and community. My speech stutter was gone.

On the academic side, I was lucky to join a school under the AKU-EB system where understanding concepts is more important than memorising everything. In addition, developing multidisciplinary perspective by reading material beyond the academic syllabus and challenging oneself to think outside the box are fundamental part of my learning and performance. But most important is what I learned from my peers and teachers. It is the acceptance of who you are and ways you can overcome your fears. I realised that a significant part of our education is acceptance of ‘the other’ despite our ethnicities, race, gender, social status or disability. It is about learning from a fellow different from you and helping each other integrate. I am confident that everything I learned and experienced under the AKU-EB system will help me in my next academic journey and life ahead. By the time I graduated, I was offered a place at the University of Central Asia in Tajikistan and LUMS in Lahore. I chose LUMS to pursue my undergraduate studies in Management Sciences.” Farhan Ullah Aziz B.S. (Hons) Management Sciences, Lahore School of Management Sciences AKU-EB Alumni 2019