During my five years of high school at Lahore Grammar School, Johar Town campus, I was extremely social and outgoing. I would often partake in the numerous inter-school events that cluttered the year and as a result had interactions with people not just from different cities but different nations as well. All the new and different people I met made me feel like I had a unique outlook on life and had friends from a number of different backgrounds and social classes.

There was definitely some truth to that belief. The people I interacted with on a daily basis hailed from numerous different cities and backgrounds, a number of them even belonging to different social classes than me. Among them I saw different ways of living and lifestyles — to what I was used to. Even the students from my own school, the ones I was most similar to, managed to survive me with their lifestyle.

These differences made me feel like I was being introduced to something new, leading me to develop a new outlook on life. What I failed to realise at the time was that the mere fact that I had met these people at academic or social events already proved that I had much in common with them. Many of the people I met during that time were from similar O/A Level schools as me, and while people had different situations financially, I still had more in common with them than most of the rest of the population.

Till I came to NUST. I was now given the chance to reflect on my beliefs, and truly bring a change to my way of thinking. Situated in the capital city, and one of the foremost public-sector universities of the country, made it the perfect place for students from different parts of the country to come together.

The student body here is one of the most diverse and people from different parts of the country and even outside of it can be found residing within its walls. There is representation from even the smallest of villages in south Punjab and Sindh, as well as a number of students from Balochistan.

For many of them this departure from their homes must’ve been a major decision. In order to achieve a semblance of familiarity, many of them would form groups with other students from their village or town. They would be most often seen hanging around with each other; and a number of different groups strolling the campus is a regular occurrence.

They would more often than not be dressed in their local or traditional garbs and regularly conversed with one another in the languages of their homes. Many of them had starkly different lives to mine, and every interaction with them would be a source of enlightenment for me.

Many people from Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reside in my hostel. This has proved to be a great learning experience for me. Having spent the better part of the last two years with these people, I have grown closer to them and made many a good friend among their communities.

A fortuitous benefit of this is that it has allowed me to experience their customs and ways of living and better understand what makes us different but, more importantly, what makes us similar as well.

The past couple of years of my university life have taught me a great many things. I haven’t just learnt about my degree of choice, I’ve also gained valuable insights and experiences regarding the world around me. Being introduced to these different cultures and languages etc has helped me evolve as a person. The different cultures and traditions that make up our great nation are all so fascinating, and I am extremely grateful for having been introduced to them.

The writer is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at NUST, Islamabad. He can be reached at araheemabaid@gmail.com