Rehman Gul

Academic

Career

Verbatim text

Rehman Gul (i16-0306) 
 
 Being first in my immediate family to join university was a high-pressure, uphill battle for me, but it was 
 rewarding all the same. I opted for computer science in high school out of interest and curiosity when I was 
 in HITEC Taxila, much against what my family wanted me to be, but the best part about studying what you 
 love is that you can become good at it in no time and you never get sick of it. That year I became the first 
 student in our college’s history to score perfect 75/75 in the federal board’s computer science paper, 
 intensifying my interest. When it was time to move into university, FAST matched my profile well, and 
 without hesitation, I made my decision. Even though I had a strong academic background, I lacked one 
 important skill: application of what I learned. I was trained in high school that whatever you study in the 
 textbook would appear on paper. I would manage to get good grades even when I’d skip studying a chapter 
 or two, question papers had choice questions after all.  
 I entered FAST, assuming the same rote learning technique would work. It didn’t! I found it surprising that 
 whatever appears in the university exam you have to deal with it, whether you like it you not. Even more 
 surprising and edifying were the questions, where I wasn’t asked to define terms, but I was asked to find 
 solutions to problems. I did a complete overhaul and changed my learning techniques to adapt to the new 
 learning environment. I started thinking about the possible application of everything I’d study. For the first 
 time in my life, I found myself not studying for getting good grades, but for self-improvement. I started 
 taking participating in coding competitions—won two data science competition hosted by our university. I 
 starting taking online courses, studying technical books, and research papers soon after I realized that AI is 
 the thing for me. Even in this global pandemic due to corona virus, I honed my skills by enrolling myself in 
 few more MOOCs. This got me my favorite role, data scientist, in a reputable organization before graduation.   
 In these four years, I read books other than textbooks which helped me grow as a person. I started loving 
 people for who they are rather than what I want them to be. I learned that you can get whatever you want 
 without hurting people. I learned that helping your niece finish reading her first fiction book is more fulfilling 
 and rewarding than reading your favorite book or watching a movie. I learned that helping others identify 
 what they would love doing is better than preaching them what you love yourself. More so than anything 
 else, I made my family proud. There is no substitute for that feeling of seeing your family proudly celebrating 
 as trivial of an achievement as getting a gold medal.