Meet and greet: US College Fair receives positive turnout of students

Representatives from Ivy Leagues across the country interact with visitors.

KARACHI:

The polls might show unfavourable opinions among the public when it comes to the United States of America’s foreign policy, but it does not seem to have deterred the influx of Pakistani students in the US colleges and universities.

Youngsters thronged the Pakistan American Cultural Center on Tuesday where representatives from more than 20 US institutes of higher education were giving out information at a College Fair organised by the US Consulate in Karachi. The university representatives guided the potential applicants on how to apply, availability of scholarships, and other information such as lifestyle and cost of living in different US states.

The event provided students the opportunity to interact with representatives from esteemed institutes, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Chicago and Yale University, all under one roof.

The US Consul General Michael Dodman, along with other officials, informally interacted with visitors at the event.

The visitors, who were mostly AS’ and A’ levels students from schools like Lyceum, Nixor and Beaconhouse, wasted no time in asking questions about how to proceed with their plans for the future. There was also turnout from the Institute of Business Administration, NED University of Engineering and Technology and Karachi University.

Opening doors for the youth

“The future of Pakistan depends on its youth and the United States wants to work with Pakistan to make it as bright as it can be,” said Consul General Dodman while talking to The Express Tribune. “By offering 30 different programmes to Pakistani students and professionals, the United States has been setting about the task of vitalising the youth’s skills - not only at their home country but also by providing them the best opportunities abroad.”

Dodman said that to “open up doors of opportunities” for Pakistani underprivileged youth, the United States had launched the world’s largest English Access Microscholarship Programme in Pakistan, enrolling over 5,000 students in 16 locations.

“Dream big and try your best to make them come true,” suggested a spokesperson for the US Consulate, Richard Silver, to a scholarship seeker. “If somebody is going to get the scholarship, why cant that somebody be you?”

On behavioural dichotomy in Pakistan about the US, Silver believed that it was necessary that people in Pakistan be provided opportunities to speak directly with Americans. “I feel proud when they [Pakistani students] return to their country after completing studies,” Silver told The Express Tribune. “As they are the ones who have a first hand experience of how life in America is and how Americans really are, they are the best ambassadors for the US to provide their community with information.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2012.