Harvard’s Commencement is May 26, 2016! To commemorate the occasion, SAI spoke to several graduating students who have been involved with SAI during their time at Harvard.
Shajia Sarfraz
EdM Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Education; SAI Student Coordinator
1. How are you feeling about graduation, in one sentence.
Excited and kind of bittersweet.
2. Can you share a highlight or favorite moment related to your SAI work?
It’s hard to choose one! SAI has a really positive and productive work environment and I loved how so much of our work was so relevant to development in the region. My favorite moment was being able to travel to Pakistan for a conference I was helping organize on mental health and disaster response. I got to meet several interesting people and enjoy quality time with SAI’s leadership and faculty. That’s definitely a memory that stands out!
3. What is that one thing you cannot wait to do after graduation?
I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my family, which I haven’t been able to do this year. That means being able to just sit together and watch a movie, or taking a trip together or reading a book without feeling the urge to highlight and underline things along the way.
Farwa, right, in Pakistan
Syeda Farwa Fatima
EdM Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Education; SAI Grant Recipient
1. How are you feeling about graduation, in one sentence.
I can’t believe this year went by so fast – but at the same time, I feel I am ready to step out into the real world and work towards what brought me here in the first place!
2. Can you share a highlight or favorite moment related to your SAI work?
SAI has been an amazing support system for me – my highlight was definitely receiving a research grant from SAI to conduct a pilot study back home on special education system in Pakistan! My field experiences – that involved meeting different teachers, students, school leaders, practitioners, and policy makers, left impressionable marks and set a career course for me: to bring a human and social transformation in the special education system of Pakistan.
3. What is that one thing you cannot wait to do after graduation?
I cannot wait to go back home to my family and friends and start my own inclusive school!
Mehmood, center, working in Pakistan
Muhammad Zia Mehmood
Master of Public Policy candidate, Harvard Kennedy School; President of the Harvard Pakistan Student Group; SAI Grant Recipient
1. How are you feeling about graduation, in one sentence.
I am feeling invigorated, prepared, and more determined than ever to take on the problems of the developing world.
2. Can you share a highlight or favorite moment related to your SAI work?
Working on social resistance to polio vaccination in Pakistan for my capstone project at HKS was a really fulfilling experience for me, and I couldn’t have done it without the funding from SAI. The experience also inspired me to explore this issue on a larger scale, and so I have already started work on developing my own Randomized Control Trial aimed at improving vaccination coverage in the province of KPK.
Furthermore, as President of the Harvard Pakistan Student Group, I turned to SAI for support for all the events that I put together, and was never once turned down.
3. What is that one thing you cannot wait to do after graduation?
I can’t wait to end polio from Pakistan, and then the world, once and for all!
Suman Barua
EdM Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Education; SAI Student Coordinator
1. How are you feeling about graduation, in one sentence.
A sense of accomplishment, and dread of the inevitability of going back to real life.
2. Can you share a highlight or favorite moment related to your SAI work?
I cherish all the times I have had at SAI, but my favorite has to be the different times we have eaten together – we have always had a good amount of time enjoying it and talking about life in general.
3. What is that one thing you cannot wait to do after graduation?
See all my friends back home, and get to the 20+ books that have ended up in my “to-read” list this year.