The Paradigm Shift.

1. United States of America, I still remember when I used to think about it and  it would seem almost impossible for me to get out of these mountains around me and visit this land of opportunities.I was determined and inspired by a million minds I had meet, to visit it one day, some where in my heart. I will never forget the moment I received a call from some lady working with iEARN and heard the words " You have made it". That was the beginning of a unforgettable learning experience for me, a life changing experience. I made the decision of stepping into a new world, a very different world indeed. I was hopeful, some how scared; but after seeing the sing welcoming me to the McDonough's family, my heart skipped a beet and I felt at home, miles away from home. One might think America is all about people partying, eating junk food or doing no work at house because that was what I was thinking before spending a year in America. But trust me this thought of mine was really different from what I actually experienced in U.S.
2.  People are very  nice I said when I was first asked about how America was treating me. I learnt a lot of small deeds of kindness from Americans during my stay, I could have learnt the same here but maybe I wasn't that big of an observer that time. Having a smile on your face, opening the door for the person behind you and getting or giving warm hugs  were my favorite things I did every day in America. I should mention that America is a country just like Pakistan in a sense that both the countries have positive and negative aspects about them. I liked things about America which include their educational system, freedom of speech, provision of opportunities, and appreciation that you get even when you achieve even a small goal of yours. Things that I found not so attractive were the fact that some of the people take the "Great America" for granted.This experience made  me realize that every place has some good points and some bad points; we shouldn't judge a place on basis of some particular people because that's what I have been telling people in America on the topic of 9/11. 
3. At the end of the day I would absolutely prefer this opportunity to all the youth out there who are in search of the truth. Whether you wanna learn about real America or you are a travelling freak just give it a try because who knows when you get this "Golden opportunity" I call it and be the one in very few among thousands that applied. I am really thankful to almighty Allah first of all and the amazing iEARN Pakistan who had given me this Life Changing Experience in a way that I started learning with the world not just about it.Guys say YES to spend a year in U.S now because YES is a program you don't wanna miss ! So hurry up peeps be the change !! 

I am proud to be a Pakistani :)

“You are my Pakistani sister”, the cutest thing ever happened to me was when I got to listen these words from a second grader with a warm hug she gave me after listening to one of my IEW(International Education Week) presentations. IEW, the best week of mine in America can be described in one word and that is fabulous. It was fabulous not only because I got the opportunity to tell people about my home country, Pakistan, but also because I came to know how small efforts can bring big changes. During my stay in U.S for the past three months, I had been asked many questions which gave me an idea of what people think Pakistan is. I tried to answer all the questions people asked me but I always thought of a platform where I could be able to convey my ideas to masses. Actually I was not able to talk to millions of people in my host community as I am living in a small town but fortunately, I almost talk to every member of my town, I believe. I prepared myself for IEW since I got to America because I knew the core reason of me coming here is representing my country and contributing something towards making the world a better place to live.

It’s worth mentioning that I got the opportunity to represent my country in front of my whole school before IEW because it was easy for the school authority to schedule. It was really a good experience talking to a gathering of more than 300 hundred people about Pakistan. As it was the very first time I was presenting to my fellow students at school so I focused on things that I thought will catch their attention. I talked about teenagers in Pakistan, presented a Pakistani folk dance and then I talked about some of the stereotypes Americans have of Pakistan and tried to change them by providing different evidences.

Finally IEW, the week I had been anxiously waiting for since I got here arrived. I had a lot of stuff planned for many classes in my school but at the first day I wanted to do something where students can have fun so that they would be more interested in knowing about Pakistan in rest of the week, so at the very first day of IEW, I planned two presentations one in Gym and other for kids with disabilities. Both of the presentations were admired by the audience but the one I did in Gym was loved by every person present there, what I did in Gym was I together with my Gym classmates made two groups and after demonstration of a sport named “Kabbadi” we had lots of fun playing it. This way of presenting my country was different and it was loved by everyone who participated, who then helped me arrange my other presentations also.

First day of IEW went awesome because I focused on the idea of “Learning with fun” so that is why I centered all my presentation accordingly. Overall in high school I did 11 PowerPoint presentations and I tried my best to make it fun also by doing folk dances, singing national songs including national anthem (I really felt proud when the people who had many stereotypes about Pakistan stand up in honor of my national anthem after listening to my presentation), dressing people with Pakistani clothes beside wearing Pakistani clothes myself and by teaching my audience some of the phrases in Urdu, my national language.

I also wanted to present my country in front of the younger kids so I went to the local elementary school where I got to experience some of the most unforgettable movements of my life, I presented 7 presentations there in which I told them about where Pakistan is, what are the kids in Pakistan like, we also have cars to travel not the camels (as most of them asked me if we have cars in Pakistan or not) and I did some of the fun activities like asking them questions, dressing them up, showing them videos and writing their names in Urdu (it was funny because they first thought I am drawing not writing ).

I did my presentations in front of almost each and every student and teacher in my school and in elementary school but I also wanted to present in front of the senior citizens so I did a presentation about Islam in general and Pakistan in particular in the church after getting approval by the preacher. I showed them a small presentation about Pakistan and let them ask me questions for rest of the time; I knew that they had a lot to ask. Other than this I also got the opportunity to represent my country in the Harvest dinner, where I was actually supposed to do community service but after completing my job, I sat down with the people and spoke with them about Pakistan. It’s worth mentioning that I also got the opportunity to speak to two classes in Alfred State about marriages in Pakistan during IEW

My experience in IEW was awesome and it is probably the best week of mine in U.S. I was asked a lot of questions but some of them which I loved to answer were; are you already arranged to someone to marry in your future? I said “we should not talk about the marriages as arranged or love marriages, they can be arranged and love marriage which is happening in Pakistan”, what do you say about the girl recently attacked by terrorists in Pakistan? I said “there is good and evil everywhere in the world, same is with Pakistan, and we have people like Malalla, promoting peace in Pakistan and also like the people who attacked her. So it is a global problem, not only restricted to Pakistan”. During one of my presentation in U.S history, a boy asked me “Is there any war like thing going on in Pakistan, I mean is it true what they are showing on the TV?” I answered him by saying “I can’t say what they are showing on TV is not true but I can say it’s not all about Pakistan. I mean there are things people need to know about peace in Pakistan also and hopefully you now know much more about Pakistan than they show on T.V.”

It was an awesome experience not just because I presented my country at every possible place I could but other than this it made me a good public speaker; gave me the opportunity to know more people; make new friends and most of all it made most of the people say that what they watch through media about Pakistan is not all about it. I loved IEW because it is full of unforgettable movements like dancing with your French teacher, singing a song with your American friends which they even don’t know the meaning of, playing your native games in Gym, getting lots of hugs from young kids who remind you of the fact that kids are kids they just understand to love and being invited by the people for dinner you didn’t even know before.

At the end I would like to thank YES program and AYA for giving me such a great opportunity to make a difference to help make the world a better place to live in. I wish that it was International Educational Month instead of International Educational Week.

What I Beleive

          Living in America is somehow not what I thought of while I was in Pakistan (my country) but still I like many things here. I am learning a lot about the way America is and Americans are but the thing I would love to learn more about is “Liberty of speech and act for every American” ,in fact when I was in Pakistan I had an idea to respect the differences and I am very glad to find that I can learn more about it in America.

           According to my opinion a nation is a group of many people living together so there should not be one person making decisions about what a nation can do and what it cannot but instead there should be a voice of people in what is happening to them. People have different views and their views should be respected and this is what I am learning in America. For the past five months, my experience of living in America has been great because here I am finding a world where people are making a difference by respecting and appreciating each other. I am learning the WIN-WIN attitude which I had been searching in books for years.

           I would write a book about what I am learning in America If I could but for now I would like to focus on what is really important to me and which will not only help me during my exchange year but also when I will go back to my country, freedom of speech and act. When we look back at the history of America we can notice that it is that nation which came in to existence because of will power, people who wanted freedom fought for it in one of the harshest situations, any nation has ever faced and today America is one of those nations which are leading the world. This shows us   that America is a nation which existed just because people wanted it to exist. Now it’s a nation of great diversity where people from all around the world are living together as a nation and still there is no any conflict because of color, creed, race or gender which shows the equality Americans have. This is one of the reasons why I want to learn more about freedom in America but behind this one more reason which leads me to learn more about this is related to my country Pakistan. I want to learn more about this American value because it will not only help me during my exchange year but also when I will go back to my country. In Pakistan things are much more different then they are here, there are a lot of good things about Pakistan but there are also some problems that people are facing there, one of which I think is not having freedom of speech for example recently a young Pakistani girl, who is just fourteen was attached by some terrorist just because she said what she thought that it is right of every girl to get education.  She spoke for girl’s education which should be appreciated but unfortunately what happened? Her school bus was attached by some terrorists who attempted to kill so should that be a result of saying what you think? Absolutely not, if people didn’t like what she was saying they were supposed to share their views as she did and that is the best solution of any problem. Hundreds of stories like this have happened in Pakistan but I believe that there will be a day when everyone in Pakistan will also have a right to say what they think without any fear of consequences and we are the ones who needed to think about this and try to bring a change.

Hello

Hello everyone,

I am Seema Karim; an exchange student from a small town of Pakistan;living here in U.S.A, for a whole academic year. I am girl who appreciates the similarities and respects the differences which probably is the reason behind me living here in a totally different world. People have never imagined a girl who is just 16, being able to fly over seas to a place which is a really different part of the world(but trust me, there are no Robots  working in kitchens, as I thought).
I like my life :)