My Name is Kamran Javed. I was an Access Student from 2008 to 2010 in Sir Syed Public School, Rawalpindi. I am going to share my experiences in English Access Micro-scholarship Program.

Before this program I was a little bit unaware of the English language. I had knowledge about grammar, but I didn`t have speaking power. I did not have any vocabulary. I did not have confidence and I could not speak with any person because I felt shy and hesitant in front of other persons. I did not have speaking and reading skills, and that’s why it was difficult for me.

However, after joining the English Access Micro-scholarship Program, my life took a new breath and suddenly changed, and I feel that I got each and every thing which I always needed – such as speaking power, writing skills, confidence, and other skills. I felt a great change in my life. Now I can speak easily with everybody, I can communicate with my friends and teachers in English. These two years were very helpful for me.

I gained very much confidence by giving presentations in the Access class. We also did many interesting activities, such as group discussions and individual presentations in different ways. We enjoyed each and every moment of our Access class. I specially thank Sir Abdul Majeed (English Programs Manager), Madam Shazia Roze, and Madam Sadia Nawaz, and I also thank the U.S Embassy for giving us a wonderful opportunity. Every new day we learned different thinks with the help of our loving teachers. Now, I can deliver a speech in front of hundreds or thousands of peoples because of the help of our loving and caring teachers of the English Access Micro-scholarship Program. The teachers are very friendly with everyone, very cooperative, helpful, loving, caring, have great knowledge and a very good power of teaching. I had never seen such type of teachers in my life. I will get so many opportunities because of this program in the future, and I will miss the English Access Micro-scholarship Program a lot. It was the program which changed my life.

Through this program I became connected with the U.S Embassy Pakistan, PUAN (Pakistan-U.S Alumni Network), and USEFP (The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan). Recently I attended PUAN’s International Young Alumni Conference (IYAC) held in April 2013. It was a four-day conference, and this conference brought alumni from Pakistan, the U.S.A., India, and Afghanistan under one roof. I also did volunteer community service throughout the entire IYAC conference.

I learned a lot from the people who attend this event. It was a great opportunity for me to learn from my senior program alumni. I am also a Scout since 2007, and I like doing community service on a regular basis. That’s why I work with PUAN as a volunteer.

On May 23, 2013, the U.S. Embassy and PUAN  invited me to share my experiences on Planet FM-94, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan) in Islamabad. Here alumni are allowed to share live their exchange program experience, success stories, personal, professional, and academic experiences and any community service or work they have done. I also shared my future plans and how to cascade my exchange program experiences in Pakistan. I also shared my experiences, views, and academic experiences with Laura Brown (former Assistant Cultural Affairs attaché), and we talked about other exchange programs.

I also worked as a volunteer in the Islamabad Chapter Reunion in 2013 at social media desk. More than 600 U.S. exchange alumni joined the reunion in Islamabad on Sep.27, 2013. This reunion was organized by the PUAN (Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network) Rawalpindi/Islamabad Chapter. This third annual reunion was the biggest event of this year.

Nowadays, my alumni friends and I are working on an Alumni Small Grant project which is based on a community service idea that encourages volunteerism and benefits the community and also public education. The project promotes better understanding between people to cooperate with each other, and PUAN is helping in this project, because the network wants to develop knowledge, skills, and mutual understanding learned during the alumni’s participation in the different exchange programs and to create an arena in which skills can be amplified to advance U.S. Embassy’s goal of increasing mutual understanding and supporting community service in Pakistan.

I also thank Sir Waseem Shahid who always helps me with every question and also reminds me to participate in events, workshops, reunions, seminars, community service, and volunteer work organized by the U.S. Embassy Pakistan, PUAN, and USEFP.

“And, when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist