By: Iman Attique
Over the summer months, as the majority of the LUMS student body took a respite from classes and their busy work schedules, the campus prepared to welcome aspiring high school students from all over the country. The LUMS National Outreach programme (NOP) Summer Coaching Session (SCS) returned to an in-person format after its last online run owing to the pandemic. The Programme was a culmination of a year-long outreach and shortlisting operation.
Mr. Ibrahim Abro – a recruiting team member – broke down the process into three tests followed by interviews with the applicants. Comprising three weeks of rigorous academic and co-curricular activities – ranging from sports to drama shows – the Programme offered these students a thorough experience of being a part of the community at LUMS. When the participating students packed their bags to leave for their cities, they all had stories to tell – some inspiring, others humbling, and each prompting the need for self-reflection.
In their interactions with students from the programme, some undergraduate students had wholesome stuff to share. A senior student recalls an incident that ‘ made [their] day’ in the following words, “I was walking back to my dorm one evening when I overheard a girl speaking on the phone, saying ‘mama yahan sab equal hain. Larka larki ka koi fark nahi, sab ko aik jesa treat kiya jata hai’” (everyone here is treated equally; there is no discrimination between boys and girls). Another shares her encounter with a group of girls at the cricket ground late at night. In conversation, one of the girls mentioned she was out at that hour just because she could be.
With the help of one of the Programme coaches, Ms. Zoha Shahzad, I got to speak to a few students. A common theme in my conversation with them was their future aspirations. Those hailing from rural villages and underserved areas of the country had high hopes for bringing change to their respective communities in whatever capacity they could. Among these was Hira Ghulam Mustafa – a 17-year-old from Hyderabad who hopes to take on a Computer Science major. While discussing her experience of making new friends and being away from home for the first time in her life, I asked Hira to describe LUMS in one word. “Tolerant” was her response.
The NOP SCS brings with it such bittersweet stories each year. This initiative for inclusivity deserves credit, and at the same time brings to light the responsibility that the community here holds. Ms. Wardah Noor, a student and social activist from LUMS, relates how there are general misconceptions regarding students of this Programme (especially those that are later admitted for their Bachelor’s) – ideas that these applicants are given leverage in tests and taken in on need and not merit. Additionally, in a recent case of fee hike over the summer, some LUMS students took to Twitter to say how the NOP Programme is feeding into said hikes, whereby money paid by one group is being used to subsidize the other. The first argument is rendered futile in view of the fact that these students go through an equally rigorous process of application and testing. The latter is also untrue, seeing as all NOP cases are sponsored by verified donors. This misconstructed image surrounding NOP is alienating and needs to be actively discarded if the campus is to be an inclusive space for all. As Ms. Noor points out from the summer session, a good way to start would perhaps be by getting rid of the segregated PDC counters for food.
Ultimately, stories like those of the NOP Summer make one realize how a place like LUMS is a sanctuary for so many people from all that is expected of them in the outside world. In a community comprising individuals from diverse backgrounds, values of acceptance and freedom should be openly celebrated. It is through this liberation that we are able to live and let live, in its true essence; and, it is this very feeling that we all must strive to continue to protect and nurture.