Personal Statement: Ahmed Nawaz applying for MS/PhD in

Mechanical Engineering
Pakistan is an under developed country stricken by terrorism, its infrastructure infested with corruption
and the majority of its populace left desolate by the current catastrophic energy and economic crisis. We
are a nuclear power and yet the irony is we spend most of our time without electricity. I have found
myself a victim of this electricity shortfall more often than not. While preparing for an exam or working
on an assignment or doing any other such work the light would go off suddenly wasting all of the unsaved
work and my initial response was always anger which would soon turn into disappointment replaced by
sadness and then finally optimism would takes its place and I would spend hours thinking about possible
solutions to this crisis. I started researching the issue on internet and the more I thought over it and the
more deeply I looked into it I would always come to two conclusions: firstly the crisis could be much
reduced by increasing efficient use of energy and following the energy conservation strategies and
secondly moving towards alternative sources of energy that are abundantly available in the country such
as the solar energy. This motivated me to pursue my career in energy conservation at a top ranked
institute of the world.
I was born in one of the most backward areas of Southern Punjab to parents who never crossed the
threshold of high school and this is precisely the reason why I started feeling a vacuum of information and
an absence of guidance from a very young age. However, this has, not for the slightest moment ever
disappointed me. Rather eventually it became the driving force behind my enthusiasm for learning,
encouraging me to aspire to greater things. It instigated in me a desire from a very young age to succeed
against all the odds. I remember I used to ask a lot of questions in the lectures, the teachers used to get
frustrated and admonish me severely at times, the other kids would make fun of me and I would return
home heartbroken but my parents supported me immensely telling me to deal with it one day at a time,
encouraging me by saying that things would get better and they did eventually. As I grew up I found great
teachers that guided me in academics and good friends that helped me in my social interactions. It was
during these times that I resolved to myself I would help others like me to the best of my ability and in
time I did.
In the summer of 2010, after I had taken my high school exams, everyone was preparing for the combined
entry test for Engineering Universities. It is one of the most competitive tests in the country whereby
approximately 50,000 applicants appear and only 2,000 of these get admissions and to get admitted into
fields such as mechanical engineering one has to be amongst the top 200-300 students. It is a highly
stressful time for students and most of the students do not even have a second to waste with good students
studying up to 18 hours a day. It was during this nerve-racking time that the country especially the
Southern Punjab was hit by one of the most devastating floods in decades, leaving several people killed,
thousands crippled and millions of families homeless in its wake and to add to the troubles there was a
huge chance of outbreak of different diseases. While the news channels depicted the miserable conditions
of the flood victims the government neither had the resources nor the capability to deal with the matter.
As a result a general wave of sympathy spread throughout the nation and a huge number of people started
volunteering to help the refugees. It was during this time that I, along with some of my friends, took the
single best decision of my life, which was to help the flood victims instead of preparing for some stupid
test. We emptied our savings, went door to door seeking charity, contacted every known friend or relative,

went to schools and colleges garnering as much support as possible and in the end we raised quite a lot of
money which we then used to buy different food items needed for daily sustenance, making packets for
the families and finally going ourselves to the flood stricken areas and distributing the packages to the
families. The conditions there that I saw the people living in are unexplainable. They were living in
conditions that were utterly undeserving of a human and to my amazement, they were still optimistic. It
impressed me enormously, changing the entirety of my opinion towards life and happiness, making me so
thankful for all I had and after that day I never whined over anything.
UET Lahore is a government chartered university with a yearly fee of about 20 US dollars. It was here
that I realized that people have trouble even paying this modest fee. I went to the Vice Chancellors office
and gave him a written application to waive the fee for the deserving students but he was bound by the
laws and thus refused to accept it. So I, along with some of my friends made a small group to help those
who need this minimal help. However the most important initiative that we, I and some of my friends,
took in the University was the Hanging Dreams project. The female literacy rate in Pakistan is about 35
percent and this includes the women who can just read or write their name. Poverty is so widespread in
the country that people do not even have the means to eat three meals a day let alone cater the educational
needs of their children. Even if a family decides to support a child, its usually a boy. The program
focuses on providing the female students of different junior high schools with whatever is necessary for
their educational purposes such as new uniforms, school bags, jerseys, books and other such things. We
even have a Facebook page for it and I have provided the link on my application. What started as a team
of 4, 5 students, has converted into a group of about 500 students but then again we are still just students
with limited monetary resources and even limited time to continue with the ever increasing academic
challenges. However we try our best to do as much as we can in our resource spectrum.
I come from a country where people from more than 50 different races speak more than a 100 different
languages, a country going through the worse time in its history with bomb blasts killing several people
every day in its streets, a country plagued by curses such as targeted killings and still the Washington Post
states that Pakistanis are amongst the most racially tolerant people in the world. I know how to work in
the most adverse of situations, I know how to remain sane when a bomb goes off in your alley and its
echo in your ears haunts you for days, I know how little things like supporting each other in difficult
times or forgiving each other can have significant impacts, I know the value of sacrifice, I know how to
share when you have little on your own plate, I know how to live with your head held high even though
the world calls you a terrorist state and most importantly I know how to remain optimistic and sanguine
that a better tomorrow will come no matter how improbable it seems at the moment.