Netxpress Dec Edition 2007
We were introduced to PKStudent by its founding members, and well, were quite impressed with the efforts and initiatives of this young group of motivated Pakistanis. They had not only identified a critical problem, but were also presenting us with a solution – While you can visit their website or read our earlier review about the site, this ‘interview’ is all about allowing you to see the potential and promise in a younger generation of Pakistan, that we have so much faith in.
Arfeen Godil, one of the founders of pkstudent, is currently working on his MBA from Southern Methodist University, specializing in corporate strategy. He has been working as a software engineer for the last three years at a healthcare firm based in Dallas, Texas. Arfeen graduated Cum Laude from The University of Texas at Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering in 2005.
Why do these youngsters bother to do what they do? Read this and more, right here.
With everything you have accomplished, how do you think you can make a key contribution to Pakistan?
One of the things that I am really grateful in life is the fact that I was able to get a good education. It has opened up a lot of doors for me in the past and given me opportunities that I might not have had otherwise. Now that I’m at a position where I can give back to my country, I think one of the best ways we can do that is by helping students in Pakistan get a better education. And that is precisely what (link unavailable) is trying to do by offering free consulting services for all Pakistani students.
What do you think are 3 of the biggest challenges facing the country and very briefly, how do you think these can be resolved?
I think that the political chaos that is currently going on in Pakistan is one of the main challenges that we’re facing right now. The instability is adversely affecting every single person in the country and might have ramifications that could span over several years to come.
Education is one other area where we’re seriously lacking. What a country can do is not just dependent on a few loudmouth politicians and some rich business people who claim to be making a better Pakistan. Instead it is the common people who make up for the major part of the country and they need to be educated enough to understand this responsibility and try to do their part.
Our depleting middle class should also be a cause of concern for our country. With the rich people becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer, it’s going to lead to a very unstable economy that could hurt future business development in Pakistan.
It can be argued that developing countries have little to give back to its people… especially if they are abroad. Therefore, why are you interested in making a change here? What drives you?
If you look at our consultants profile at (link unavailable), you’ll notice a visible trend. It is made up mostly of young Pakistani professionals who grew up in Pakistan but are currently living abroad. And they’re all volunteering their time to pkstudent for free.
I think this is the generation that has seen life in both Pakistan and in developed countries like the US and UK. And we realize that most people in Pakistan don’t even realize that they can have a better life than what they’re living right now, because they’ve never seen it. And we all feel strongly about this dismal state of our country and want to do something about it. Even if it is one student at a time.
Where do you see Pakistan in the next 10 years? Any different than it is now?
We’ve seen a lot of progress being made in Pakistan in the last few years in the form of public awareness as well as development in the business sector. The younger generation is becoming more and more aware of the political and social problems in the country which I think is the first step towards a social revolution that could one day make Pakistan a much better place to live.
Anything else you’d like people to know? About your motivation, yourself or your work?
A lot of people might think of us as naive youngsters who think they can make a difference by helping a handful of students. But I believe that with every single student that we help at (link unavailable) we ARE making a difference, however small it might be.
If every single person does one small thing to help our country, just imagine where we would be in just a few years. So I would urge everybody to go do their one small thing and see the difference.
