It ain’t easy : Despite disabilities, Marya’s struggle continues

Diagnosed with epilepsy at nine; she is presently pursuing her MPhil from SZABIST

RAWALPINDI: Turning your weakness into strengths requires confidence and courage and that is all what took Marya Asghar to fulfill her dream.

An epilepsy patient, Asghar also struggles while using her left hand to go about her daily chores, however, the disability has never held her back from achieving anything.

With so many difficulties that would deter any other person, the 26-year-old never lost hope and pushed her way forward to complete her education and came out victorious after graduating with a distinction in her BS honours degree. “Till my bachelor’s degree, my parents weren’t confident if I would be able to continue with my studies, however, my distinction proved everyone wrong and they started acknowledging my strengths”.



Marya completed her degree in Public Administration from Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi with distinction and is currently perusing her MPhil in Human Resource Management from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Information Technology (SZABIST). Things however, haven’t been a smooth sail for Marya. Her parent’s decision to enroll her in a normal school was greeted with severe criticism from family and friends alike who said she will not be able to cope with normal students.

“I am proud that my parents took a stand against all odds and enrolled me in a school with normal children,” she said. And she did prove everyone wrong when only in her first year of schooling she managed to leave behind many brilliant students of her class and secured a position.

Sharing her suffering, she said life tested her in the most unpredictable way when she suffered her first seizure at a tender age of nine and was diagnosed with epilepsy — a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance.

“It was disturbing and strange for me being a child but I never lost hope and remained committed with my ambitions of getting an education”.

Asghar now aims to continue with her education and go abroad on a scholarship, and also wants to try her luck by sitting the Civil Services Exam.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.