Female Musician Scholarship

Success is a multifaceted term whose meaning varies from person to person. Some may equate it with wealth and financial stability, while others see it as living a life of fulfillment and achievement. Regardless of how you define it, success is a beautifully complex metric by which individuals measure the value of themselves and life. When I think of defining this metric as a person, my father stands out the most among others. My grandparents when recalling my father as a child liked to say that he was born with a fire ignited in his heart. He was born in the small rural village of Gujrat, Pakistan in 1978 to a blended family of siblings plenty. Growing up in such a crowded household proved to have its disadvantages, however, having to claw his way through people to the dinner table and battle for a turn in the shower taught him traits that made him a persuasive, cunning, and adaptable adult. In his early years, he wasn’t the most academically inclined student in high school- a rambunctious boy with a rebellious streak is mostly how my grandparents would describe him. He didn’t care much for his mathematics or literature classes and found himself drifting away during lectures. The one subject he found himself enthralled in was the arts. My father found himself lost in the realms of sculpting and theater, but being the son of an imam came with pressure to follow that path. My grandfather discouraged him from pursuing a career in theater, breaking my father’s heart. Years later he was in a daze about what to do with his career after dropping out of college and found himself in San Francisco, and even later, he met the beautiful and sharp woman to later be my mother. Her pregnancy with me was unexpected and once again put pressure on my father, but this time he didn’t buckle. Using his fantastic persuasive skills and knowledge about other people, he forced himself out of his own introversion for the sake of my mother and Is future. Film, advertising, and sales were all fields he found himself able to thrive in- balancing both his desire for creativity and determination for a stable income. When the door of opportunity ever opened, my father never hesitated to insert his foot in the way. There aren't enough words in the English language that could suffice in describing my adoration for my father, nor is there enough time to admire the obstacles my father overcame for the sake of his family. His ability to come from a small rural village in Pakistan to then the United States, and furthermore work his way to the top of world-renowned companies such as PIMCO without any formal education or internal networking is astounding- and he achieved these goals fueled solely by the love he holds for his family. For these reasons alone, when I think of a single person to embody the definition of success- my father is the most worthy candidate.