Studying Abroad

It all started on a hot summer day of 2004 in Karachi. I was studying Physics from my teacher Lina and her elder sister Lubna who was my teacher and friend as well came in with some prospectuses in her hand. They were admission guides for the University of Luton UK and St. Andrews University UK. While handing me those two prospectuses Lubna said "Heyy Zohaib!! Just have a look at them". I replied "What the hell are these??".  She said "These are prospectuses of two famous UK Universities". I started looking at them and felt very much interested. I asked Lubna how she got those two prospectuses and she told me that one of her neighbors is planning to study in UK and he has ordered these prospectuses. I asked her was there any way I could get prospectuses like these for free. She told me that these prospectuses are usually delivered at home free of cost by most of the British Universities and I should try for it on the internet. That day the first thing I did after getting home was opening Google and searching for "Order free prospectus". The first few sites that I came across were University of Southampton UK and University of Auckland New Zealand's websites. I completed the forms for request of prospectus. 

I remember that within two weeks both universities sent me their information packs. I was very happy and read them thoroughly. That was the time I made my mind about studying abroad. Before that my aim was to join Pakistan Army (and my parents werent happy at all on this aim of mine. They wanted me to study and become an engineer and they thought joining the Army is waste of one's life.). I showed those prospectuses to Lubna too and she was very happy. Infact she was the woman who shaped my life this way. At that time I was studying at Cadet College Sanghar (which is Pakistan Navy's institution). When I went back to Cadet College from holidays I took the University of Central Lancashire's prospectus with me to show it to my friends. Within a few days the prospectus and the UCLAN was so popular that everyone came to me asking how did I got this prospectus and they wanted to get admission in the UCLAN and I used to tell them Im not an admission officer of the university lol, Go and search for it on the internet yourself. Anyways April 2005 came and I completed my Secondary Education. It was time to leave Cadet College Sanghar even though I had two years remaining to study for High School. But I decied to do my high school from Karachi.

I went through the websites of nearly 90 British and 30 Australian Universities for 3 years from 2004 to 2007. My criteria for selection of a university was: The tuition fees and living costs, How reputed the university is, In which city is the university located and what are the employment prospects after graduation. I got approximately 50 prospectuses from universities all around the world. They included universities from UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
I remember that for these three years the main thing which remained 24/7 in my mind was getting a foreign education. I turned into a maniac lol. Actually the condition of my country Pakistan was never very good. The crime situation and terrorism in Pakistan had become unbearable. People were(and still are) living in a state of fear. The government is corrupt and just want to fill its pocket with taxpayer's money. The situation was getting worse day by day. I am a peace loving person and Im very very sensitive. Whenever I turned on my television I saw something bad happening in Pakistan. This made me sad and depressed. I just wanted to go to a peaceful place like UK or Australia. Whenever someone asked me what I was gonna do after High School I replied I want to leave Pakistan for studying in the UK. As I belong to a middle class family of Pakistan my extended family members used to make fun of me saying how the hell can you go abroad for study. Its a rich people's game. But my parents promised me to send me abroad to get education.
By then studying abroad had become my Aim In Life just like 3 years back it was joining Pakistan Army and serving my country Pakistan. It was May 2007 and my high school Final year papers were the next month. I decided to talk to my parents about applying to a British University. I went to my Dad and told him that I have been searching a British University that is affordable and whose degree is accepted over the world. My dad replied that its good but why are you searching for a university so early. You will be going to the UK for postgraduate studies after completing your graduation from Pakistan. At that moment it felt as if the sky as falling on me. I became sad and asked my dad to send me to UK this year. I requested him to pay my fees for the first year only and the rest I decided to manage while working part time in UK. But he didnt accepted this. Anyways at that time I thought that my father has made a wrong decision by not sending me UK. But then came 2008 and the "recession" and people started loosing their jobs. At that time I thought that my father had made a very wise decision by not sending me to UK. And I also thanked God for saving me. Infact the other thing that I realized in the same time period was that Engineering was not for me. I joined a local engineering university and left it after 4 months. Actually in Pakistan and India most parents want their children to be either Doctors or Engineers. But I hated Maths from my childhood days. I knew I will never be a good engineer.
Again the newspapers and internet came to my help and I found a British degree program which was completely offered in Pakistan. I applied to the City APIIT and got admission there in March 2008. I studied there for three years and graduated in October 2010. I got my UK degree from Staffordshire University on 20th December 2010. From 2008 to 2010 I tried my best to get myself transferred to UK, Australia or Canada but wasnt successful :(
I recently applied for the University of Sunderland Masters program and got accepted. Will now apply for a UK visa in Jan 11.