Life is What You Make Out Of it, If you think positive things happen positively and if you are thinking negatively that for sure will have a negative impact on your life and your personality as well.
Sometimes experiencing things change our specific mind sets for things. Experiences are necessary to make a person learn. Experiences provide you with some eternal joys and lessons for life. I also had a similar experience a few days back which I feel has changed my perspective of life, has made me more goal-oriented and passionate about my dreams. I believe this event will always have an impact on my future life and lead me at different steps of life. This event truly had deep marks on the cores of my heart.
This is about the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) event which was the 9th episode of PSYWC’15 (Pakistan Student/Young Professionals/Women in Engineering) Congress 2015. which was organized and hosted by Comsats Institute of Information and Technology, Islamabad. A very well-organized event with 532 active participants from all over Pakistan covering 18+ universities from Faisalabad,Lahore, Karachi, Abottabad, Peshawar, Quetta etc. showing the unity of Pakistan, passion for knowledge, and love for the IEEE family ofcourse.
So it was a three day event starting with Day 1:
I had not much expectations from the event thought it will have normal motivational sessions along with some techie workshops, but no there was lot lot more.
After having our cards from registeration desk we reached the university premises after passing the security, now we all (Me and my quad) were anxiously waiting for the opening ceremony, then finally someone said that the event was just about begin as the chief guest arrives. Chief guest enters and after some formalities the event started with loads of praises and compliments to COMSATS Institute of Information Technology for organizing such big event with such a huge number of people attending it. It was for the first time that the number of participants was this huge. 🙂
NayaTel is a private company connected to Micronet Broadband (Pvt) Ltd. (MBL). The first broadband service was provided by them back in July 2002 in Pakistan.The company along with Microsoft were the official media partners for the event. Free Wi-Fi from NayaTel was also available during the whole event to connect students at Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so that they could share their experiences and views socially. Hashtags for IEEE, PSYWC15 were used to highlight the event.
NayaTel’s CEO Wahaj Siraj was invited to give a keynote speech on the very first day of the event. He congratulated the team of IEEE CIIT Student Branch for organizing such an amazing event in Islamabad. He praised the efforts of organizing team and showed gratitude that NayaTel was also a part of such event. He also cracked some amazing jokes waking up the participants. He fervently quoted Iqbal’s poetry which added more enthusiasm to the crowd.
Then there was a motivational session by Sir Haider Miraj (My favorite among all such an amazing and humble personality). He delivered the concept of origin “MATTI (soil/clay)” from which we believe that Adam was created and we too and at the end we’ll end up there too. He taught us the “VISION” the correct direction to move , difficulties in goals (why me? thing) key points that I think are truly thought provoking and inspirational by him that I would share were:
- His very own story, how he failed so many times. How he had “Fs” in his degree along with that how he did not gave up for what he wanted, his efforts, his hurdles all in one session…(kyion k wo khwab dekhta tha)
- Facing your hurdles without thinking what people will say (“Log kya kahen ge ?”)
- Elimination of self pity (Why me ??)
- The things we discuss have to be POSITIVE
- You are Pakistan, The only thing you need to take home is POSITIVE Pakistan.
Then there came Mr. Mir Muhammad Ali Khan whom I silently followed on Facebook thinking that he is a BIG guy, highly inspirational at social media but reality is I never thought I would be able to watch him talk live. He is truly such an amazing personality, inspirational soul and seriously a true patriotic Pakistani who did not left Pakistan again and is still serving here *cheers*.He always has a sweet smile complimenting his graceful personality. Key point by his session according to me was “Never give hope and keep trying, skill, luck and hard work can move mountains” as he said “Bure ka socho irada kero toh Allah yeh nhi khta dozakh me dal du ga lekin jab mayoosi ki bat krete han toh Allah khta hy k mayoosi gunah hy, becuase we’re denying His existence“(When you think of doing some bad deed, Allah never says He’ll put you in hell but whenever you lose hope you deny His existence and this makes you a sinner)
After that there was a workshop on free lancing by Miss Nafeesa Mazhar which I attended so could not attend a few very important sessions 😦 *No regrets* because the workshop it self was a complete learning package and Miss Nafeesa put all her efforts that no student is lagging behind and learning each and every step.
Lunch break: yayy I was so hungry 😛
then we had coffee and prepared for cultural night which was no doubt awesome evening which portrayed true colors of Pakistan showing performances of all four provinces and much more. Indeed a great night after a superb day. Performances had the essence of culture, a visual treat indeed and the amazing voice of Umar Draz and many others were such a delight to enjoy.
Some glimpses of cultural night are shared here to show the colors of true Pakistan
DAY 2:
When we reached the campus preparations were being made at that time. Me and my quad decided to skip the free lancing workshop and go for the sessions being held in EE Hall. Where Mr Qaiser Aijaz from CS dept from IUB presented the art of receiving Feedback while keeping your self positive towards the feedback.The key points that he made us learn were:
To change push-learn method to Pull-learn method
Also to control our inner RADIO and lower down its frequency which keeps us restricted to learn from feedback given to us. The last point which is worth sharing “Receiving feedback does not always mean you have to take it”.
After him came Mr. Umar Adnan– the cowlar man. He shared his success story with us and his achievements among them the biggest achievement was COWLAR which has a great impact on our Agriculture. The device helps to monitor the diseases and temperature and increase the productivity of milk in return.
After that, the impressive person, Mr. Prakash Lohana (Chairperson IEEE, Karachi Section) came to share his article published by IEEE six habits of a successful person. Other than the habits there were few points that are worth mentioning, Following is the summary:
*In love there’s no fear (If you love something you’ll keep trying to achieve it)
*The ability to be happy and make others happy.
*The ability to love and be loved.
*Plan for today, budget your time. (Time, the most important asset)
*You get old when you stop dreaming.
*Positive attitude does make a difference.
*the quote “We cannot change bad things, but we can change our attitude towards bad things”
*Adopt Pro-Activeness : Pro-Active, Positive, Productivity.
*the point which I liked most was: Highly productive people are never REACTIVE, they’re always responsive.
*Wanna Run fast, Run alone… Wanna go long way, Go with people.
*Have Mentors, be a mentor.
*Create harmony among fellows and understand yourself.
then Sir Farrukh Malik was there to share his experience of market. How he observed market scenarios before entering it. His experience of owning a mobile shop and the journey towards entrepreneurship. His hurdles and his gains and losses during his journey. The keys that he believed will open doors of success in any dream were:
*Hard work is good, but smart work is better.
*Believe in yourself.
*Team Work
*Sincerity with yourself, fellows, organization.
Sir Amir Zahoor presented a beautiful introduction for the speaker for general talk on Humanitarianism and Social Entrepreneurship He praised the works done by the team and efforts for humanitarianism. He also mentioned the loss we have every year due to the disasters whether they are natural or man made.The talk contained precautions and
what we can do to cure and prevent natural disasters.’
Sir Saeed Aleem spoke on the sensitive issue about managing and controlling these disasters and threw light on how IEEE has been a part of this noble cause.He added how floods, earthquakes and land sliding has been devastating for the past couple of years and what steps we can take to minimize the effects of these disasters.
In parallel to this WIE meeting was conducted with chairs and members of WIE. Non members also attended the meeting and enhanced their knowledge and gained about learning being a part of IEEE and WIE.
After him, Dr. Faisal Khan was there to let us know about the scope of Computers in Biology and Genetics, that was really interesting. He mesmerized the audience by telling them that DNA can printed by different combinations of genes. Now bacteria is not required to copy genes and to replicate DNAs.
LUNCH BREAK: ahh was very hungry 🙂
Then we traveled back to CS Hall to attend the ARDUINO workshop by Sir. Murtaza Hanif (Coz I was very much interested to develop something on it) it went well too. It is a small circuit board by which we can develop several things.
Then we moved to “very next HALL” for the session of “SAD STATE OF COUNTRY” by Sir. Abdul Rafay Baloch OMG that session was worth attending, Well this was Technical though but we enjoyed it thoroughly. The most interesting thing we came to know was “BITCOIN CURRENCY and ITS CREATOR TOO”, he ended up with a quote saying “Learn something about everything and learn everything about something.” He urged that GPA does not matter when you are determined to do something. *Point to be noted*
While we were in the audrino workshop a session with Miss Jennifer Kushell was running in parallel, some friends attended that session and gave a very positive feedback, though she could not make it to come over here but Skype call with her made it possible to have such an inspirational and motivational session with a great woman. (hats off to team CIIT, IEEE and Miss Jennifer Kushell who made it possible to connect to us at midnight over there)
After it ended the preparations for gala dinner started; adorable decor, yumm dinner,superb gathering, awesome starting by SECURITY TEAM’s PERFORMANCE, Awards distribution, melodious voice of Umar Draz(Yes he was called upon stage on demand 😉 ) , Irtiqa band, The ARFAANA kalaam…
Some glimpses here :
Returned back much tired 😦 had to wake up earlyyyy for day 3 (Hiking and last day of IEEE learning journey). I had never been to hiking in Islamabad so this was even more exciting and adventurous for me to attend the day 3 plus I had never monument before too 😛
DAY 3:
So after having only 3-4 hours of sleep we had to get ready, without any breakfast we reached their within 1 hour. We had some junk food breakfast from the tuck shop present at start of trail.
Then after a long wait the team CIIT arrived along with the guest participants from all over Pakistan *proud moment indeed when I saw all of them coming altogether* and along with them was my favorite duo (Sir Haider and Sir Amir). So we finally started hiking. 
We climbed up the trail with great zest and adventure, this was an amazing experience observing nature in a whole new experience can not be described in words. Those winds, the chirping birds, those moving trees, that shining sun all made me more close to The Creator, The Almighty. Nature is always been calming to me. Serene beauty sending me to heavens…..!!
Finally we reached the gathering point which was a water spring at mid of the trail, at that time all of us were sweating heavily and could not even catch our breaths. But it all gave us a whole new experience of coming out of our comfort zones, and it started from the very beginning when we woke up just after 4 hours of sleep, and I am sure the never ending efforts of organizers of CIIT might haven’t let them even sleep for those 4 hours.
At that lake kinda place we had a session with Sir Haider miraj. After 10 days have passed still I feel all those words echoing in my mind. He first asked us to tell what sounds we were hearing ? Many answered water, many said birds, some replied human voices. But the thing which he wanted us to ponder was our internal voice, which made us come there. He said all of us somehow came out of their comfort zones. He mentioned five points to achieve what you want what you desire what you aim for. He said “Hard work does not decide success of an individual “. A boy said sir “hard work done in the past might effect that”. Sir replied,”No kid, a boy who has to support his family who sells corn you think he does not work hard. Who among your father and that boy earns more”
“My father”, many said. “And who works more hard ??”
“The boy, obviously”
Reply was clear and simple “Hard Work ALONE never decides success, its the right direction that is required”
- To listen to your ownself
- To come out of your comfort zones
- You have to specify your goals (Zindgi ke pas etna waqat nhi hy k wo sirf tumre goals pe kam kre) Life has not ONLY your goals to deal with.
- Auto Correction (Ye pathar thudday kha k gol hue hain, pani is me se guzar guzar kr rasta bnata hy,) How these stones get circular edges because they people walk on them, they are rubbed by shoes, water makes its path by continuously flowing somewhere.
- Jab tak mar nhi khao ge seekho ge nahi (You will not learn until you fail)
wo aur thay jo zuban de kar mukar gaye,
Main nahin phiru ga zuban se main Najaf se hoon!!
- Regrets, There are no regrets in life there are only lesson
- Negativity that surrounds us: We keep negative people around us
- Let it go and let it begone
- The only thing you can change is “YOU”
After this the session was concluded saying Trust a few only few and make them realize that you love them, Praise others, stop being judgemental and last was Accept yourself as a leader if you cant love yourself no one can.
after this we went back making a resolution to pick up all the wrappers and clean the trail on the way back. As we were proceeding back to the buses I fell down and sprained my ankle so I missed a few things but I carried on coming out of my comfort zone challenging my ownself. When I came to the starting point with my friend I saw Sir Amir wearing my back *so sweet of him, he was wearing my bag from the time when I fell*. After getting into buses we proceeded towards the monument.
We had only half an hour there but this time was also memorable and I gathered very precious memories in the few last hours of PSYWC’15. We had a group photograph at monument, lucky enough to be a part of picture with Mam Mehvish and Mam Nafeesa, Mam Maryam Saeed holding the flag along with most persistent team of organizers of CIIT, The chairs of WIE and members of IEEE from all over Pakistan. The intellectual speakers, the motivational personalities.
Okay, After City tour we had to get back to university for the closing ceremony and a few more sessions. So finally we went back to CIIT.
Then We went to session of “Why IEEE?” by Miss Mehvish Zahoor. This session answered all our hows and whys.We were told that we will be helped by the team if we wanted to join IEEE. How miss Mehvish herself fought with the society to preserve her hijab, when people call them “ninjas” (Yes they do judge people) Then she explained the regional committees and representatives moreover she asked questions from the crowd about IEEE and chairs of the Islamabad and other regions. She also explained how we can be a part of WIE affinity group and how we can organize events and make it possible to have an exposure.
I must say IEEE organizers and the CIIT team had saved cherries to top the desert, as far as the last speakers are concerned. They deeply won the hearts of audience. If you were a part of event you would definitely know I am talking about Sir Farhan Masood and Sir Syed Abdul Wahab.
Sir Farhan Masood was the one who had completely different story from others. But very similar in other perspective too. He was a college drop out. He was his own teacher, guide, mentor. He was there because he never gave up. He always did the “One more try” thing. He started with building a simple website, then selling it. then he kept on learning. He had points in life where he was hopeless too but he did not gave up. And now he is the creator of one of biggest technologies “Cloud gate” which is a security system which allows you to choose your identification method.He added a verse of Iqbal here,
Bay khatar kood para Aatish-e-Namrood Main Ishq
saying You only fail when you give up.
He was also presented by a token of love from team CIIT and IEEE and audience also gave him a standing ovation over his superb efforts and ahievements. but he was truly humbled over that.
Sir Haider gave him a tribute by saying “Farhan tum ne ker dikhaya”*Farhan you did it*(over the reference of book he showed to us which said *tum ker skte ho* you can do it). 
After him came the last speaker of the event sir Abdul Wahab who ended up so well with the event that he will always be remembered by many sitting in the hall. He was serving as a systems engineer at Naya tel.
He came there with an African Proverb “The writer will always glorify the hunter until the lion learns to write” as the theme of leadership. He said soo many things to be a good leader and develop leadership skills in a person but a few I will share here:
- Believe in Allah, he is always there.
- Recognize yourself, who you are
- Find yourself
- Wear Yourself (Whatever the color of glasses you will wear you will start seeing the world in that color so let these glasses be of the true color)
- Stop thinking about “What if”, What if is different than “I failed.”
- Change your self
- Lead yourself
- Take a company of Positive people who compliment.
He ended up by saying a stanza of his own poem,
logon ki daleelon se, hathon ki lakeeron se (By reasoning of masses,By lines of fate)
Na hi kuch badalta hai, na hi kuch badalta hai (Nothing changes, Nothing changes)
After this the closing ceremony was held in the marquee, Token of appreciation were presented and Goodbye speeches were said by the organizers and guests. With all this the beautiful chapter of PSYWC’15 came to an end.
This was it. My journey through these three days have given me so many things remember. So much to learn and to keep with me and to share what I learnt in all the days of my life.
P.S: Images are taken from PSYWC’15 Facebook Page. You can get more information about Speakers Here.
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