Nudrat

Session:
Spring 2024

I got selected as a principal candidate in Ugrad Spring’22 exchange program, which is sponsored by US state department. In 2021, when Covid’19 had almost took over the world, I felt shackled, but in the midst of chaos, there lied hope and Ugrad became just that for me. Even in the last moments, I was hesitant to apply but I’m glad I did, and after almost a semester of doing a bunch of documentations, acing TOEFL and at last, the visa interview, I was all set to go become a ‘wildcat’ in Linfield university, Oregon in February 2022.

My experience was absolutely amazing, I felt more than welcomed, got showered with kindness and got to be friends with many amazing people. As a cultural ambassador, I took part in most of the activities taking place on campus & represented Pakistan, I also had the honour of presenting “Pakistan; the land of the pure” to a larger American audience in my university. IREX; our host parent & primary organisation in the US, kept track of all our activities during our time there; summarised by Irex as ‘Cultural passport’. I also travelled a few states, and it was nothing short of witnessing a dream coming true. I’m still in contact with my amazing & renowned International relations Professors from the US, and they keep helping me uplift my spirits time & again.