Story of a Pakistani Scholar

July 27, 2009

PAKISTANI GIRL
Beenish

As I look back at my one remarkable year in the U.S., I realize how wonderful a country the U.S is and how beautiful my country Pakistan is, and though we are very different but we have more similarities. When I received the confirmation of my scholarship which was through Fulbright commission and fully funded by the U.S State department, people in Pakistan warned me about different issues. My elder brother who is in England from past three to four years warned me of racism. He told me that you are a Muslim and also a Pakistani you should be very careful as people have very negative image of us. My aunts told me how I should be careful not only with boys, but also with girls and that I should not involve myself too much with American people as they have no moral values. One of my colleagues at my bank criticized me that I am doing something extremely wrong as the U.S. is our enemy and I should reject my scholarship and become a more patriotic Pakistani. I took some of the warnings seriously, but with all excitement was ready to spend one year of my life in the U.S.

My experience turned out to be much better than I had thought of. I was welcomed in one of the community colleges in upstate NY. We were four students from Pakistan in this program. There were students also from Turkey, Indonesia, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil. We all students lived at the same dorm floor and were studying almost the same subjects. Since we were all on the same program, we all got very close to each other and learned about these countries as much as we learned about the U.S.

We were paid $ 500 each month and all other expenses such as tuition, hostel, and books were paid by the U.S. government. The purpose of this program was to let Americans know about our countries and culture and also learn about American culture. To fulfill this requirement, all students were provided an American host family. Students could live with them if they want. Mentor families were responsible of keeping the students entertained and allowed them to become a part of their family. I had a mentor family too. It was Ann Sullivan, a librarian at my college and her husband Nick, who is a professor at Cornell University. During my stay my mentor was always there for me. On weekends she took me and my other Pakistani room mate for dinners, shopping, and movies and sometimes to her home. I even stayed at her home during my winter vacations. She was very open to learn about Pakistan and Islam. She respected our values and appreciated the way we lived. I almost felt that I have an American mother and father.

Since we were also responsible to share about our country to American people, Ali, a Pakistani student from Skardu and I went to different libraries, schools, Cornell University and even to a children prison to talk about Pakistan. It was an amazing experience. People wanted to know so much about Pakistan. They were amazed to see Ali and me wearing our national dress. They wanted to know about war, Taliban, Al-Queda, how people live in Pakistan, was it safe to live there. It was very satisfying to tell them about our country and clear some of the misconceptions they had. For instance when the staff at the Children prison informed the prisoners that two speakers from Pakistan are coming to give a presentation, they told the staff we don't want any terrorists. It was funny as these were serious criminals who had murdered some one or were drug dealers. When we spoke to them about Pakistan, most of them were surprised. They were shocked to know about our strong family culture and low rate of children criminals. They also appreciated our closeness to religion and respect for elders.

During this year, I also realized the great opportunities that are available in U.S. educational institutes. At my college, I studied from very hardworking professors. The class room environment was very interactive. Students were encouraged to participate in class discussions and students felt comfortable expressing their opinions. Students had the option of choosing subjects that they wanted to study, there were also many opportunities where students could do internships in different countries. College library had a great collection of books, and students could use internet when ever they wanted.

As a part of our program, we were responsible to take a FDR (Freedom, Democracy and Responsibility) class. The purpose of this class was to let students know about American democracy, how America was formed and principles which are the base of American government. We were taken to Boston, as a part of this class. We visited all historic monuments and studied American Revolution as Boston is the city which gave birth to American Revolution against British. In this class we also learned about the civil rights war, the rights of women, and the extra-ordinary efforts of black African Americans to become an equal part of American society. It was an interesting time to be in America, as we saw a black, African American man to be elected as president of the U.S. first time ever in the history of U.S.

I found American society to be extremely tolerant of diversity. This country has people from all over the world and of all religions. I saw many Muslim women covering their heads and working freely without fear of being a target of racist comments. During my stay I traveled to may places in the U.S. and met many American people and no one judged me because I was a Pakistani or a Muslim. There are problems but they are because of our governments and not people. American people like us don't want war and killing of innocent people. My perception of U.S society has changed. I wish both Americans and Pakistani's could experience what I did. We need more such programs where young people can learn on their own and not form assumptions based on what is taught to us.

Beenish Javed
Pakistan

Source: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090727/LIFE/907270390/1124/PAKISTANI+GIRL

Travel Diary of a Pakistani Student at US

“The Memoirs of a Pakistani in the Windy City”

I am a student at Tompkins Cortland Community College, also known as TC3. I live with a bunch of international students that came to the U.S. We are on the same program of scholarship offered to different countries by the government of the US. My friends and I wanted to explore America during our winter vacations. When my friends Didi, Syeda, Tulin, Sisca, and I were talking to people about our mission to go to Chicago, the responses surprised us. We were curious as to why people's reactions were odd. We were planning to go in the beginning of January, which is supposed to be the coldest time in Chicago. Syeda and I are from the warmer part of Pakistan and, the cold in Ithaca is already extreme weather for us. Sisca also comes from the warm climate of Jakarta, Indonesia. Tulin, from a colder part of Turkey, was somewhat immune to the cold weather, but our dear friend Didi from South Africa absolutely hates winter.

So you guys must be thinking: “why in the world did we even plan to go to the windy city?” This was not our original plan. Since we came to the US, all we heard was that Florida is amazing. It has Disney World, beautiful beaches, and exotic resorts, and we couldn't wait to go to Florida. However, when the time came for us to leave for Florida, we were told not to go by our professor, Tim McCabe. He advised us not to go to Florida on our own. We had only one driver, the tough mountaineer from Pakistan, Ali. He was determined that he could drive for more than 24 hours to Florida. So we would have been relying only on his driving skills. Also, with an amount of $ 300 in each of our pockets; we would have never been able to make it. Yeah that's the important part, the money; we all had approximately $ 300 each.

The creative mind always finds a solution. So the mastermind Didi and I thought of the wonderful idea of contacting Beth Van Dine. She is a part of the faculty at TC3, but works from Chicago. She was the only one we thought would be able to accommodate these five girls from absolutely different backgrounds. So we emailed Beth asking for her hospitality. We were not very optimistic that we would get any response from her. I remember we were jumping with excitement when she emailed and told us that we could visit her. It was amazing; we got an opportunity to travel somewhere away from the village of Dryden. We had no idea what the city of Chicago was like. We only knew about the Chicago Bulls and that's it.

We reached Chicago on the 5th of January. Beth was there to pick us up at the airport, one of the largest and most beautiful in the U.S. Didi, Sisca, Syeda and Tulin hardly fit in the back of her car. Luckily, I had the privilege of sitting in the front seat the entire time, during our stay in Chicago. We reached Beth's house in about fifteen minutes. Her house was beautiful, and we felt embarrassed to enter with our snowy boats. Her lovely dog was on the entrance of the house to welcome us. Let me tell you we were bundled in as many clothes as we could. Beth was a little amused to see our “beautiful” attire.

We had no idea what the city was going to be like. The very next day we were on the train and were going to the Navy Pier and Millennium Park. The Navy Pier was colder because it was on the edge of the lake. Millennium Park was this huge place with a big metallic kidney bean. Millennium Park is the same place where Barack Obama delivered his victory speech. We also got a chance to go up to the Sears Tower for a city view. The architecture in the city is eye catching. It is unique and different. The city has buildings in many different styles of architecture. Many students of architecture come here from all over the world to study and observe the architecture styles.

Food was something exciting in Chicago, and Beth took us to different cafes and restaurants. We had some of the best tasting sandwiches, soups, and salads. She also treated us at one of the most popular Arabic restaurants, which served us enormous portions of delicious food. During our stay, we ate authentic Chinese food in China Town. The last night at Beth's house is a beautiful memory in our minds. Her Armenian friend made chicken barbeque for us. We talked and ate barbequed salmon, chicken, and delicious Russian cake.

Everything was fun in the windy city. However, the best part was the gigantic, beautiful, and elaborate museums. One of these was the planetarium. Sitting in it felt like sitting under peaceful moonlight. The planetarium staff informed us about the planets, stars, and constellations. The Art Museum was fortunately free for visitors on one of the days. It had a huge collection of antiques from China, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Indonesia and Greece. The Art Museum had a huge collection of paintings and also miniature art. The collections at the Art Museum and the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago attract tourists from different parts of the world. Theses museums serve a great purpose for students and researchers.

It was a great time for us women, from different parts of the world, along with our American host Beth Van Dine. We experienced being in one of the greatest cities of the world. Our trip would have not been possible if we had not been invited by Beth. Her house was cozy and warm in the cruel winter of Chicago. We got a chance to see the city in a real sense, not like a tourist. The memories of the city of Chicago, the music playing in Millennium Park, the people ice skating under the park, the metallic kidney bean, and the barking of Beth's dog causes me to smile.

Beenish Javed

Pakistan


Source: http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20090223/LOCAL05/902230334