Minahil Zehra

Academic

Career

Verbatim text

Minahil Zehra (18I-0096) 
 
 It was in 2018 when I entered FAST as a freshman and I immediately questioned my decision, thinking whether this place was “it” for me or not. Of course as a freshman I tried to look for an easy way out because of a heap of assignments, quizzes and projects assigned to us. “I’m not cut out for this”, I would say. But I later realized that FAST was neither about the workload nor about the pressure, FAST was actually about reality and definition. Things were never sugar coated here because all of our instructors and university staff members were shaping us to grow up. All in all, FAST is all about realization. 
 Stepping foot in the university, I was unsure, confused and new, and to be frank, I did not associate with the word Fastian. “We are different”, I would always think and similarly through Mr. Adil Kazi, a professor in FAST, I found out that we are actually “GenerationFAST”. Now that has a ring to it and lo’ and behold, I started working with Mr. Kazi as the first ever female freshman president of the FAST Snow Leopard Foundation to promote this message across the university. And it was during this time, I understood the true meaning of a student of FAST; Drive, passion and willpower. The culture here promotes an equal balance of academic and social life through incorporating major events such as Outloud Projects where freshmen go out into the market, Entrepreneurship Projects where sophomores develop real life business proposals and some even execute business and lastly, our Final Year Projects which shape us to understand the true essence of research and fill us with pride once it is published with our name. Along with all of this, FAST promotes the idea of a bright social life so its students through events such as NaSCon, Adventure Galas and society projects- and our most favorite, Cricket Screenings. 
 Hence, now that I am leaving FAST, I am strong and refined. Now I also realize that coming to FAST was the right decision for me because I was meant to be here. I had never expected that I would writing this but I am thankful because I want people to know that individuals at FAST NUCES are given the recognition they deserve, along with independence and respect. So today, I leave this note for all my peers, instructors and members of FAST NUCES as a thank you for contributing to my growth and making me who I am today, Minahil, a student of FAST.