In 2016, I first interacted with the Pakistani industry of educational consultancy while applying for my undergraduate studies to the U.S. as an A-level student from a private school in Lahore.
I was still in the throes of Pakistan’s fragmented and templated consulting system, working over-time at a job that required a barrage of fake activities to be drafted from scratch on the daily.
I was introduced to college counselling in A2. By this point I had upgraded schools, and my new school was full of incredibly smart, incredibly ambitious girls. It felt like everyone was applying to the Ivy Leagues. As a self-assured smart girl myself, I wondered, “Is this actually possible?”
شہ بے خودی نے عطا کیا مجھے اب لباس برہنگی
نہ خرد کی بخیہ گری رہی نہ جنوں کی پردہ دری رہی
the kingdom of ecstacy has granted me a robe of nakedness
my intellect no longer weaves a covering, my fervor no longer tears it off
