ALKHOBAR/KARACHI, 8 August 2006 — The greatest show on Earth is watching a young person reach for the stars. On Aug. 18, Afsah Shafquat will board a flight to the United States. Accepted to study in the Class of 2010 at the renown Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, this young woman from Karachi, Pakistan, will be one step closer to her dream of developing technology that will make a difference in our world. Afsah has chosen “Electrical Engineering and Computer Science” as a university major.
A scholarship student and top of her class at St. Michael’s Convent School, Karachi, Afsah scored 2400/2400 on the SAT II — Math I, Math II and Physics. Even so it was still a wonderful surprise when an e-mail arrived in March with the following message from Marilee Jones, MIT dean of admissions:
“Dear Afsah,
“On behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2010. You were identified as one of the most talented and promising students in one of MIT’s most competitive applicant pools ever. Your commitment to personal excellence makes you stand out as someone who will thrive within our academic environment as well as contribute to our diverse community. At MIT, you join kindred spirits: Scholars, builders, entrepreneurs, and humanitarians. We believe that you and MIT are very well matched for each other.”
The good news was e-mailed to family and friends everywhere. The joy in Afsah’s success was quickly tempered a bit with the realization that serious financial aid would be required if she was to be able to attend MIT. After a few months of agony, waiting to see if the funds could be found, MIT offered a financial aid package, awarding a scholarship of almost $41,000, exclusive of a self help of $5,500 for the first year. The family will still have to struggle to meet the total expenses for the first year of approximately $55,000. As of yet, the government of Pakistan has not come forward with any financial assistance, advising the family that funds for education are generally available only for graduate students.
There are moments in life one always remembers. For me, meeting the three sisters, Isbah, Afsah and Afrah Shafquat in Karachi in March 2001 is one of those moments. At the ITCN Asia Conference they were already being touted as prodigies. The truth is that they were and are, far more than that. Raised by courageous parents, Dr. Shafquat Mahmood, a physician, and Mrs. Akhter Jahan, the sisters were advised to study hard and imagine large. No goal was impossible.
Although their parents knew little about information technology, the sisters seemed to have a talent for the subject and their father pushed hard to remove all obstacles to get them the education they needed to succeed. The oldest, at 19 years of age, Isbah is now married and continues her studies full time at FAST National University in Karachi, majoring in Computer Sciences. Afrah is nearly 16 years old and will be working on her A levels this year.
As for Afsah, her accomplishments are already impressive. She has passed six international IT certifications and created a world record each time. These are:
• World’s Youngest SCJP (Sun Certified Java Programmer) June 28, 2001 at the age of 12 years, four months and two days;
• World’s Youngest SCWCD (Sun Certified Web Component Developer) Nov. 21, 2001 at the age of 12 years, eight months and 25 days;
• World’s Youngest IBM Certified OOAD (Object Oriented Analyst and Designer — IBM’s Exam No. 486) on Feb. 26, 2002 at the age of 13 years exactly;
• World’s Youngest IBM Certified XML Developer — IBM’s Exam No. 141 on March 15, 2003 at the age of 14 years and 17 days;
• World’s Youngest SCBCD (Sun Certified Business Component Developer) on July 4, 2003 at the age of 14 years, four months and eight days;
• World’s Youngest IBM Certified J2EE Developer — IBM’s Exam No. 484 on July 9, 2003 at the age of 14 years, four months and 13 days.
Afsah passed her “O” levels in 2004 with 7 As when she was a 10th grader. Then in AS level, Afsah earned four As in four subjects — Math [A]: 99, Physics [AS]: 97, Chemistry [AS]: 96, and Biology [AS]: 96. She received a Certificate of Distinction in the Euclid Mathematics Contest 2005 organized by the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a Certificate of Distinction in the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge 2005 organized by the Canadian Mathematical Society. Most recently, Afsah was on the final team of six members selected to represent Pakistan in the 47th International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) held in July in Slovenia.
Yesterday, by telephone, I spoke with Afsah and her family in Karachi. “I am actually jumping with excitement, when I think about her going to MIT,” said Afsah’s sister, Afrah. “It is a bit sad when I think of her leaving and being so far from me, but then we have to sacrifice something, to achieve something big. MIT was Afsah’s dream and I know you are as happy as I am that she got it. Mom’s a little emotional. Dad looked at me recently and said that it would be just two years more before I’d be leaving to study as well. We will all miss Afsah terribly but this is her big chance. So we are praying for her success.”
Afsah is only the second one from her school who has gone to MIT and all her classmates are very delighted for her. Plus, despite the prevalence of top rated girls’ schools in Karachi, Afsah was the only one from the city accepted at MIT this year. Afsah has had few experiences away from home and with finances tight, she told me it will be years until she gets to see her family again. For a while e-mail and VoIP connections will have to do.
“Four years is a long time. I have hardly ever been away from my family. It has always been my parents and we three sisters together, so it will be very difficult,” said Afsah. “It isn’t part of the culture here in Pakistan for parents to send their daughters off to study alone, but my parents have been so encouraging to me. They told me this is a wonderful opportunity and if I want to take it they will support me 100 percent. So I’m going for it.”
Congratulations are of course in order for Afsah and her family. For myself, I will never forget three girls, sitting eating pizza with me at Pizza Hut in Karachi a couple of years ago. They were telling me about scenes from their favorite Disney films. Their mother wasn’t with us. She was studying a computer graphics course and couldn’t miss her class. Their father sat at the corner of the table, lovingly coerced into driving us from one side of Karachi to the other — a test of any father’s devotion. I can still see them sitting there so happy and full of life. Yes, Isbah, Afsah and Afrah have been gifted by God with extraordinary talents, but it is thanks to the dedication of two loving parents that their futures shine exceptionally bright.
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