Zaynab Batool Reza

Academic

Career

Verbatim text

Zaynab Batool Reza (18I-0419) 
 
27th August, 2018. The first day of my first semester at FAST. That day is still etched clearly in my 
memory, the nervousness and excitement I felt. Sure, I knew these next four years would be huge. 
Little did I know then, however, exactly what I was in for. 
As students of computer science, much of our lives revolve around 0 and 1. The binary of good or 
bad, black and white, on and off. The four years I’ve spent at FAST however, cannot be summarized 
in a single word or a single verdict. It has been a journey of growth, learning and unlearning, despair 
and also hope. Moments of laughing so hard that I cannot breathe, of legs burning as I climb up the 
unending stairs with barely a minute till class starts, of staring in horror at the marks for an exam I 
thought went well, of trying to stay awake in an 8:30am class as my eyes burned, of silently 
thanking Allah for getting high marks in a different exam, or of sitting in the corridor waiting for a 
teacher while on an hour of sleep. All of these moments, and so many more, bundled together and 
tied with the vibrant crimson ribbon that represents the road of my last four years, are what 
encapsulate my journey at FAST. 
During these last few years, yes, I have learned a lot about CS, about programming languages and 
OOP, Data Structures, and other subjects. But I have also learned so much more about myself. 
About who I am and what I am capable of. I have learned about people, and about life. I found 
teachers, who were not only skilled in teaching their subject material, but who mentored us and 
taught us about being better people and about navigating life. I found friends, who pushed me and 
inspired me to be the best version of myself every single day, who I found standing by my side on 
the days even I couldn’t stand my own presence. 
Not every day of this degree was easy. In fact, the right words would be that barely any day was -
easy. There were a lot of sleepless nights, hours spent debugging code and crying sessions involved. 
But as the end of my time here approaches, I find myself without any regrets. Every single moment 
I’ve spent here has been worth it. For all the friends I’ve gained, the skills I’ve learnt, the 
experiences I’ve had. For the new version of myself I have discovered. There is so much that FAST 
has given me that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and for that, I am forever grateful.

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