The Shams Family Foundation Financial Assistance Process: Syed Asad Ali Shah

I was born in Chitral in March 2003, attended Pearl School Buni for primary and secondary education, and completed my intermediate studies at Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Chitral. I was a member of various school and hostel clubs, including the Social and Culture Committee and the Sports Committee, and represented my school in science and technology competitions and as a football player in the District Sports Gala.

It was January 2020 when I learned that the Shams Family Foundation was going to start an undergraduate financial assistance program, available to computer science students who excelled in mathematics. I applied, and two months later Sir Kamruddin Shams reached out to prepare me for an interview. The interview itself, on May 21st, was simple — questions like "tell me about yourself" and about my financial situation. Two months after that, in July, I received my confirmation letter, and on August 8, 2021, my residence and admission letters to South East European University arrived.

Obtaining a visa during the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult — there is no North Macedonian embassy in Pakistan, so we had to travel through Dubai or Istanbul first. We were fortunate to find Sana Travel, who simplified the process: we sent our documents and waited three months for the visas to be issued. This is one of the real benefits of being an SFF student — you don't have to work hard to get a visa; you just have to send your documents and wait.

When we stepped off the plane, the university had already arranged for us to be picked up. We were greeted warmly, received our student cards, and were shown to our dorm before beginning classes the next day. Tetovo turned out to be a nice, calm place to begin this new chapter of my life.