Saturday 21 January 2012
Thursday 5 January 2012
A Bright Star in the Academic Sky; published on Dawn In Education;the Blog
A bright young man with radiant smile and intelligent eyes, Shahzaib Hassan proudly delivered the Valedictorian Speech to conclude the Convocation Ceremony at the IBA main campus in the evening of December 2, 2011. One could see the pride and excitement in the crowd of students when he exclaimed “My fellow graduates, Congratulations! We have finally made it.” Shahzaib was awarded the Gold Medal as the Overall Best Student from the Graduate Program this year. He joined IBA, MBA in fall 2009 and performed persistently to achieve this honour.
Dawn in Education Team asked Shahzaib’s teacher to interview him, for us and this is what he narrated as his story.
Tell us about your journey to the Gold Medal as Overall Best Student, Graduate Program at IBA?
It has been a tough but an enriching journey. When I joined IBA I found many intelligent students around me. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about myself but with the passage of time I gained confidence and made my place in the highly competitive environment. Since the beginning, it was my dream to be the Gold Medalist. I made mistakes and learned from them and this attitude helped me in reaching the top position. I was always among the top 5 students at IBA but securing the first position is really challenging. It’s a dream that has been lived. I owe this to my parents, teachers and friends who were part of this journey.
What is your majors at IBA and which is your favorite subject?
I opted for Marketing as Major and Finance as subsidiary since I wanted to pursue career in the two fields. Brand Management was my favorite subject since I find it interestingly evolving and challenging.
How did you study? Self, group, tuition…?
I used to study on my own. In fact I don’t prefer group study since most of the time youngsters are just wasting time in the name of combined study. Though group study has its own benefits, I usually didn’t practice it myself. I have an individual style of study and I am happy that it worked.
How many hours do you spend in studies? What is the recipe of success in exams?
Let’s be very honest I don’t study every day. I usually study on weekends and try to cover up for the whole week. One thing that I follow religiously is that I pay full attention in class. My attendance is always above 90% and I never bunk classes. This has helped me in understanding the style of different teachers and then adapting myself accordingly.
Do you agree that the girls nowadays outshine boys in academics and secure top positions mostly? What’s the situation at IBA
It is true and we should appreciate it because girls are really hard working, I generally feel boys are more intelligent but are not willing to put in extra effort. IBA has the similar situation. Even this year I was the only boy in top five students while the other four were girls. I set the record in a way that after three years, I am the only male student who has become the Gold medalist at IBA.
Does your early schooling and family help you in achieving this position any way?
I did my entire schooling from Beaconhouse. The quality of education at that time was much better but now it has been constantly declining which is alarming. I strongly believe that good schooling always helps.
I owe all my achievements to my family especially my parents. My dad is always strict about education. He taught me till class 8. My parents wanted me to get 100% percent marks even in Chemistry. You can imagine the kind of pressure I had but now I realize that if my parents would have let me do what others were doing then I could never achieve this. They also give me full confidence to discuss all my problems with them and always are there to support me.
What do you do to recreate; your hobbies, interests, pastime?
My hobby is to play cricket and do swimming. I used to be a cricket fanatic but not anymore. I follow cricket like anything but my interest is diminishing because Pakistani Cricket team is not doing well. I love going out with my family to share quality time.
Who is your favourite personality?
I am highly impressed by my dad. If I look around I like Abdul Sattar Edhi, Imran Khan, Dr.Ishrat Husaany others. The most likable traits in any individual for me are honesty, commitment and the desire to excel.
What are your plans in the future?
I don’t plan for 5 years or 10 years ahead. My plans are for a small duration mostly for a month or two and I keep revisiting and alter them according to the demands of the fast-paced life. I personally believe that it’s better to equip yourself for tomorrow instead of ten years down the line. My ultimate aim is to reach the top most position and lead a reputed company.
Any message for other students, politicians and teachers?
I don’t find myself good enough to give messages because I am still in a learning phase. But I want to say one thing to everyone that whatever you do in life, do it with honesty and commitment, this will take you a long way. There is no substitute for hard work and if something goes wrong in your life, don’t blame others for that.
Dawn in Education Team asked Shahzaib’s teacher to interview him, for us and this is what he narrated as his story.
Tell us about your journey to the Gold Medal as Overall Best Student, Graduate Program at IBA?
It has been a tough but an enriching journey. When I joined IBA I found many intelligent students around me. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about myself but with the passage of time I gained confidence and made my place in the highly competitive environment. Since the beginning, it was my dream to be the Gold Medalist. I made mistakes and learned from them and this attitude helped me in reaching the top position. I was always among the top 5 students at IBA but securing the first position is really challenging. It’s a dream that has been lived. I owe this to my parents, teachers and friends who were part of this journey.
What is your majors at IBA and which is your favorite subject?
I opted for Marketing as Major and Finance as subsidiary since I wanted to pursue career in the two fields. Brand Management was my favorite subject since I find it interestingly evolving and challenging.
How did you study? Self, group, tuition…?
I used to study on my own. In fact I don’t prefer group study since most of the time youngsters are just wasting time in the name of combined study. Though group study has its own benefits, I usually didn’t practice it myself. I have an individual style of study and I am happy that it worked.
How many hours do you spend in studies? What is the recipe of success in exams?
Let’s be very honest I don’t study every day. I usually study on weekends and try to cover up for the whole week. One thing that I follow religiously is that I pay full attention in class. My attendance is always above 90% and I never bunk classes. This has helped me in understanding the style of different teachers and then adapting myself accordingly.
It is true and we should appreciate it because girls are really hard working, I generally feel boys are more intelligent but are not willing to put in extra effort. IBA has the similar situation. Even this year I was the only boy in top five students while the other four were girls. I set the record in a way that after three years, I am the only male student who has become the Gold medalist at IBA.
Does your early schooling and family help you in achieving this position any way?
I did my entire schooling from Beaconhouse. The quality of education at that time was much better but now it has been constantly declining which is alarming. I strongly believe that good schooling always helps.
I owe all my achievements to my family especially my parents. My dad is always strict about education. He taught me till class 8. My parents wanted me to get 100% percent marks even in Chemistry. You can imagine the kind of pressure I had but now I realize that if my parents would have let me do what others were doing then I could never achieve this. They also give me full confidence to discuss all my problems with them and always are there to support me.
What do you do to recreate; your hobbies, interests, pastime?
My hobby is to play cricket and do swimming. I used to be a cricket fanatic but not anymore. I follow cricket like anything but my interest is diminishing because Pakistani Cricket team is not doing well. I love going out with my family to share quality time.
Who is your favourite personality?
I am highly impressed by my dad. If I look around I like Abdul Sattar Edhi, Imran Khan, Dr.Ishrat Husaany others. The most likable traits in any individual for me are honesty, commitment and the desire to excel.
What are your plans in the future?
I don’t plan for 5 years or 10 years ahead. My plans are for a small duration mostly for a month or two and I keep revisiting and alter them according to the demands of the fast-paced life. I personally believe that it’s better to equip yourself for tomorrow instead of ten years down the line. My ultimate aim is to reach the top most position and lead a reputed company.
Any message for other students, politicians and teachers?
I don’t find myself good enough to give messages because I am still in a learning phase. But I want to say one thing to everyone that whatever you do in life, do it with honesty and commitment, this will take you a long way. There is no substitute for hard work and if something goes wrong in your life, don’t blame others for that.
Monday 2 January 2012
A FORMULA TO HAPPINESS
How to get true moments of pleasure in life...?
Are you satisfied with your life?
Do you really enjoy your work and leisure time?
These and many such questions often confront us, make us think the way we are spending our lives.
While there’s a small number of happy go lucky people around us who take what life offers without considering such questions, there are many restless souls who keep thinking this way throughout their lives.
One can neither define happiness, nor can set standards for it. Psychologists say that people need a balanced combination of satisfying work and enjoyable leisure time to be happy. Perhaps true… but then how could you
explain the enviably pleasing personality of my grandmother, whose career was her dozen children and whose hobbies were confined to the household work.
In fact, there is no formula for happiness. It is perhaps the capacity to which a person enjoys what he has and ignores what he doesn’t have.
In childhood, we have little wishes and dreams and thus there are more joyful moments. Slapstick in a cartoon programme, a simple joke or a class presentation brings twinkles in children’s eyes. But as we grow old, happiness changes its meaning for us. Suddenly, it’s conditional to factors like excitement, popularity. love and acceptance. In teenage years, sweet smile of a smart young fellow makes us happy throughout the day. While a derogatory remark of a teacher or low grades in exams keep us sad for days.
When we enter into the adulthood, our standards for profound joy become more worldly. We equate happiness with love, marriage, birth, wealth and career. These things also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Relationship may be broken, loved ones die and wealth and career never last. For adults, happiness is more complicated and difficult to get. Throughout our lives, we chase different goals and people to get pleasure. We look for happiness everywhere while it lies within our own hearts. We make it conditional by believing that we should achieve certain things to be happy, without realising the fact that the people who already have those objects are not necessarily happy.
Quite often little acts of kindness, unexpected moments and simple things bring profound pleasure in our lives. For e.g. one of my friends says that she enjoys her morning walk more than anything else. Another one gets pleasure from chatting with her maid while for my sister telephone is the source of happiness. She says “Whenever it rings, I know that somebody is thinking about me. And this very feeling fills my heart with joy.”
A long drive with your favourite music in the car, a sunny morning, a warm smile, kind look, friendly gesture, interesting book, good company etc., all provide us many reasons to be happy. But when thinking about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary and such extraordinary moments seem to get rarer the older we get.
To enjoy the essence of life, one has to feel little moments of pleasure rather than waiting for big things. Most of us often ignore beauties of path and desperately chase our goals in pursuit of happiness, thus we get nothing but frustration at reaching there.
Too many expectations from a person, object or occasion always cause trouble. People in our country lavishly consume their money, energy and time at the occasion of marriages, eids and parties, but they hardly enjoy half as much as they spend. The real charms of these moments die due to our pompous attitude.
In the modern competitive world, we have too many choices and we want to succeed in every area. We are so self conscious about our right to things that we have associated happiness with one expression `we must have.’
This attitude makes happiness more complex for us since money, success and status never guarantee pleasure.
The root of happiness lies at sheer contentment and simplicity. If you want to be happy expect less, give more. Be positive in your approach, perceive a setback as a challenge and enjoy what you possess as the blessing of God rather than wish and wail for what you don’t have.
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