Proud to be a girl

How easy is it for people to claim that “you cannot do this or that because you are a girl”. Very often, if a girl wants to be a pilot she is told that she is too weak to fly a plane. If she aims to become a judge, she is told that her powers of judgment are not equal to men. She is encouraged to stay at home, cook for the family, and be loyal to her husband.

People don’t want women to move forward in their lives because it will mean change. Women will no longer wish to remain inside the home, they will no longer be silent when it comes to demanding their rights, and they will no longer remain quiet when deprived of an education. These are the reasons why we women are told that we cannot do this or that.

In my opinion, two obstacles stop women from achieving their goals: society, and lack of confidence. If these two obstacles are removed, women can realize any dream.

People weaken women’s strength by repeating that they are less capable than men. If people are unable to encourage women, they should at least not make negative comments. No one has any right to take away hope from others.

As a result, women themselves start to believe that they cannot move forward in professional fields. They become dependent entities, accepting the ways things are. They stop trying to step away from the behavior expected of them and it becomes hard for them to bring about positive change in their lives as well as in their communities. These way communities too lag behind.

As an undergraduate student, I say a big “No” to the two obstacles and see things in my life differently. I prefer to live my life the way I want to. I believe in myself. There have always been people in my life who have supported me. Their support and encouragement has enabled me to be what I am today. I will remain thankful to them throughout my life. These include my family, which trusted me and taught me to trust myself. Secondly, my teachers taught me that destiny is not important; what matters is the journey. They made me believe in myself as a woman with the potential to be the best. I have learnt that gender has no role to play in the walk of life; what play the most important role is continuous hard work, commitment and dedication to our studies, to our aims, and to our families and communities.

In June 2015, I did my intermediate from Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Kuragh, and Chitral. The school helped me to flourish and if today I am a student at one of best universities in Asia the credits goes to this school. It is my great pleasure to acknowledge our principal, Madam Sultana Burhanuddin, who helped me in applying to Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh. She asked me to fill the forms and sit for the test. I was fortunate to be one of the seven students from Pakistan who were selected by the university and given a four-year scholarship. I am also the first woman from my area to get admission to this university.

People asked me how I will live in Bangladesh, away from my parents. Will I be able to cope with the new environment, and will I be able to accept the diversity? What if I forget my own culture?

All these were challenges which I had to face. Yes, I thought about them. It was difficult for me to go abroad and adjust to a different culture. But the best thing is that I never lost hope. My family asked me to stay back if I wasn’t comfortable going. But what I have learned in my 20 years of life is to accept challenges. Being a woman does not mean to accept it when others tell you that you cannot do something; rather I believe it’s about having faith in yourself and doing the best you can do.

I am currently enrolled in Asian University for Women, Bangladesh and a student of Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In my future I wants to empower myself either in the sector of Education or in Developmental Studies. Once I am done with my goals I am very happy to serve back my community and that is the reason behind to say " Proud to be a girl".