Every year, we grow a year older but what if I tell you I feel like I have aged 4 years in the

past
year?
Like most of my classmates, I graduated from high school last year and went to college. I also
learnt how to be a mother, some would say. That too, after I had to drop out of college.
‘Hold on. What?’, People say.
‘Tell them your story, Eyman,’ often my sister says. I do not think it’s my story. A chapter,
perhaps.
So, let’s begin.
On August 11th, 2017, I began the most amazing (so far) journey of my life. I said goodbye to my
country, my friends and my family and went off to college in Chicago. Illinois Institute of
Technology. At the orientation, I befriended 5 people, who coincidentally, were all from
different countries. A global crossover, really. As time passed, they each gave me a piece of
themselves through what they taught me.
As the college workload dawned upon me, I felt overwhelmed and all over the place. In the
beginning, I did not know how to manage school, in a different country with different people.
But as time passed, I began to grab my roommate, Katja’s, extraordinary work ethic along with
her ability to balance academics with some party. Did I learn how to study smarter and not
harder? Yes. But alongside that, I also went to fraternity parties, which, by the way, are not as
cool as they show in the movies.
‘Was it difficult? Living alone and doing everything yourself? my friends always ask.
Not when you have a friend like Laura, the friend who you go grocery shopping with and the
friend who cooks food with you? Not ever needing to do my laundry myself, washing the dishes
and making doctors’ appointments back at home, this newness made me feel more responsible
and productive. Lukas, my German friend, taught me how rewarding and satisfying it is to
grasp knowledge of things that are not under your school curriculum. Who would have thought
that one day, I’d want to study Philosophy? Or discuss the fact that putting your arm in a
magnetic field can lower your blood pressure, over lunch? Coming from Pakistan, where
friends/family discussions never really go towards such topics, it was a new, exhilarating change
for my inner nerd. Even so, there were days when I felt very lonely and homesick. My friends
back at home soon got busy with their own lives and my long-distance fell apart. Isabella, my
friend from Colombia, having a similar experience in the past, showed me how important it is to
fight your emotional battles before they take over you. The art of letting go of your anger, of
what hurt you and your insecurities, is as important as anything else in your life. There were
also many days when I felt like the happiest person on Earth. My lab-partner, Itic, once took me
to an Electronic Dance Music concert. Galantis. As the beat dropped, I felt and understood the
pleasure music brings to people and how they feel. Free.
‘See, you know how to enjoy. We love this Eyman.’ My friends used to say.
Unfortunately, at the end of my first semester, my mother had left her job and gave birth to a
beautiful baby boy. My brother who is 20 years younger than me. Moreover, my family moved
to a new city. The new situation made finances tight and I decided to leave college and fly back
home.
People tell me what an unwise decision it was, considering I had put in so much hard work in
the past into going to college. But I believe that nothing I went through, was a waste of time.
Soon after I came back to Pakistan, my mother started working again and I was left to take care
of the baby. Changing his diapers, feeding him milk, giving him a shower, putting him to sleep. I
have also learnt about a hundred nursery rhymes.
So, what are you doing these days?
‘She’s taking a break from the race.’ My sister says.
I might still not be in college, but I have learnt and grown up a lot in the past year. I believe
nothing you face in life is meant to break you, but it is meant for you to grow through it.
Everyone has their own pace in life and the sooner we accept that, the easier it is for us to
outdo our past and move forward in life. I know for a fact that I am readier for college this year
than I was last year. Ready to begin another chapter.