2011 Shanks Family High Hopes Scholarship recipient- University of California, San Diego
While traveling to Pakistan this summer, I experienced shockingly similar experiences whilst unlocking personal meanings to who I really am. I couldn’t stand watching as people wandered the streets begging for money and food. Corruption ran through this catastrophe. I never saw so many poor people at once and I thought Berkeley, California was the land of hobos. The greatest lesson which comes of this is that I taught myself to appreciate my own heritage and learned my own lessons as to what I can do to help those around me. The end result of all these observations was a shaking revelation to me. The epiphany that resulted from learning about changes in Pakistan as a physical experience was the greatest I have ever had. This realization fabricated new ways for me to start thinking about myself. I never imagined how traveling could impact a person so much, that their entire perspective on life and their surrounding could change so suddenly.
“Muhammad’s love of learning has led him to enroll in some of our academically most rigorous courses. He has learned to take responsibility for his work and to seek help from his teacher and peers when needed. He has become a very mature and responsible young man.”
Teacher, Berkeley High School
