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Before i start with my introduction and a deep insight to who am I?, i feel like i should shed some light on a recent tragic incident that shook the very core of my existence.The incident took place on 16 December 2014 in the city of Peshawar, which is located in the north western region of my home country Pakistan.A terrorist group called Tehriki-i-Taliban TTP stormed into the Army public school of peshawar and managed to kill hundreds of innocents students and staff members of the school and brutally injured many others and hence conducted one of the worst massacres in the history of Pakistan. Among the few survivors was a 13 year old boy, Ehsan Elahi who shared his story:

“The attackers burst in and started spraying bullets. I saw my friends getting bullets on their heads, chests, arms and legs, right in front of my eyes. They kept on firing bullets for at least 10 minutes. I also received two bullets on my right arm. I wanted to cry at the top of my voice, but I held my pain and did not cry because that would have meant death”. He continued, “Human blood, flesh and body parts were scattered everywhere. I saw the lifeless faces of many of my friends when I was leaving the hall. Their faces are still in front of my eyes”.

TTP claimed that they take full responsibility of the attack and stated that their reason for doing so was to take revenge for the Zarb-e-Azab operation; the Pakistan military offensive against the terrorist groups.They said they wanted to harm the families of army officers and make them feel the pain off loss, but i believe there can be no justification for killing innocent students because no religion or law supports such kind of barbaric acts.Due to this incident all schools in Pakistan were closed down for a duration of almost 2 weeks.Suddenly schools didn’t seem safe as learning environment and parents were afraid of sending their kids to school in fear that their kids might not ever come back home.It was a wake up call for the entire country and we all unified to bring justice to the people who were brutally murdered that day. It wasn’t easy but we were determined.We carried out mass protests and demonstrations to spread our cause.When the government finally punished the terrorists involved in the attack and offered some considerable consolation to the family of the deceased we knew that we had been somewhat successful in our cause.

So lets get back the question who am i?.I think if you were to take one look at me you would say she is a black haired,brown, Asian teenager girl but if you were to observe carefully you would realize that im much more than that.Im a person who belongs to a nation that fights,strives and struggles with the evils of its society in a hope for a better future.Im a person who is compassionate and optimistic enough to hope that no matter how corrupted we become with the evils that reside in us and the society we we live in we can always find our way back when we unite under a common cause for the benefit of the greater good.Im a person who dreamt of going to a prestigious institution abroad for higher studies even though there are people in my country who don’t even have access to basic education or are still to afraid to go to school.Im a person who being the youngest and most beloved child of my family convinced my parents to let me go half way across the world to fulfil my passion. Im a person who believes that dreams do come true if only you were to push yourself to the limit and then have the courage to jump off into the uncertainties that stand as obstacles in your path in order to achieve what you deserve and what you’re actually capable of. I believe only you can give a true definition of who you are and the rest of the world will follow through.So when i see myself in the mirror i see a person who is a striver, a person who dreams of making a change in the society she grew up in, and i see a person who is naive but yet capable of achieving those dreams.

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