Post by Zainab F.

It’s official. I got into Harvard University! I have been sitting with this news for two days and it still does not feel real. But here it is: I have been admitted to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Ed.M. in Learning Design, Innovation and Technology, class of 2027. I am sharing this, and the journey behind it, not for sympathy, but because I want every aspiring student out there to know that your circumstances do not get to decide your ceiling. I grew up in Lahore, Pakistan. After my O-levels, my parents told me they were struggling to afford my education any further. So I worked hard enough to earn a full merit scholarship for my A-levels. During that time, my A-levels counsellor told me middle class students like me should not be dreaming of studying in the US. I have spent the last several years proving that wrong. I came to the US in 2021 on a full tuition scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in May 2025. Things like this do not often happen to people like me. And that is exactly why I am sharing it. If you are a first generation student, a student from a developing country, a student who has been told their dream is too big for their background, this is for you. Where you start does not determine where you end up. The place you were born in, the school you went to, the money your family had or did not have, none of that gets to decide how far you go. I applied for this degree because I believe education is the single most powerful tool we have and it is not equally available to everyone. I want to spend my life changing that. Getting in was step one. There is still a long road ahead to make this a reality, but I will share more on that soon. All praise is to God. He made a way when I could not see one. Every single time.