Within
a few days from now, I will be leaving my country to study abroad for PhD,
Insha ALLAH. It’s an industry based project, fully funded, which includes a tuition
fee scholarship for 4 years and a stipend for 3 years. Let me tell you the
twists behind these seemingly simple words of a win.
The
story of winning this scholarship starts off with a loss actually. I was refused
from Oxford University for PhD in Numerical Analysis that day, February 22,
2012. Upon my request, I was told later that there are only 3 to 5 positions offered
in the said position in one whole year! I knew Oxford was competitive but had
no idea, to this extent! (I have been reading number of scholarships for Mathematics Department and didn't know there were strict allocations subject-wise). I knew I was eligible for applying this position and
for the scholarship, but it gets just too competitive when you have applicants
from around the world. I was good in academics but not so exceptional. One of
the biggest problems that I faced was that I didn’t have a research publication
yet. Why not? That is another long story. But the fact is that I did not
publish my thesis work.
Now what? I had confidently applied at Oxford University without even
thinking that it will get rejected like that. It was my dream. I wanted to
prove that I will study at my own talent where son of my country's President (and
many other renowned politicians and personalities in Pakistan) studied. A lot
of my plans were running parallel with it and I was excited. It was a gloomy morning for me after
the dream broke.
It had taken almost six months just to launch the application. The idea
first popped in my mind in July 2011. I started off studying for IELTS test
preparation on my own. I remember there wasn't a single person I could ask
about it. Amidst teaching three courses, which is maximum work load for a Lecturer,
I sat for my test in November and earned band 7.0, which was just enough to
qualify for Oxford Uni in Mathematics Department. I think my mistake was that I
requested for funds from Oxford. Had I shown that I will finance my studies
through my employer or HEC, there were bright chances of winning it.
Lesson learnt! That same day, within an hour, I started searching for a new scholarship.
Life has to move on and it doesn't end with that. The problem was, that being
busy with too many other things in my life, I just relied on a single application.
It was end of February and all Universities in UK had closed admissions for
bursaries and funds. UK was my top priority for studies because my brother was
also there at that time. Spring semester started and I had to teach with
full workload again. I had to start it all over when there was teaming pressure
at workplace now i.e. start of a new semester.
What happened next, is another story to be told!
