BEYOND PAPER – CHAPTER 2: Mr. Fahad Ayaz
Ladies and Gentlemen
Presenting Chapter Two of PaperCrush: Beyond Paper
An Initiative aimed at bringing the stories of talented and influential Individuals of our campus, to the limelight.
After travelling to S3H to Interview Ms. Syeda Neha Shah Gillani, the President of FICS, we went back to the department to share the story of the second Interviewee of ‘Beyond Paper’:
Mr. Fahad Ayaz, The Secretary General of NIMUN’19
Let us shine some light on NIMUN,
NIMUN, The NUST International Model United Nations, is one of the biggest events in NUST, held in the winter vacations of January. It’s an annual event that conducted by the student body of NUST and involves four rigorous days of excellent debating and fantastic social events.
Mr. Fahad Ayaz is a senior student of the 2k15 batch in the department of Economics, S3H.
Belonging from Manshera, KPK. Fahad Ayaz is an ‘army brat’, currently living in an apartment outside of NUST with his little brother. He’s been all over Pakistan and has studied in various Army Public Schools across the country before joining this university.
Join Us, as Beyond Paper Interviews Mr. Fahad.
What would you say if someone asks you to describe yourself in a few words?
Umm, I’d think I’d term myself confident. Career-Oriented.
I feel like I can be a great team player as well as a leader and I have good management skills.
What’s your experience in NUST until now? If you could describe it briefly
I feel that if anyone wants to experience the best kind of campus life, then they should definitely aim for this University. As far as my own experience is concerned, I’d rate my time here as an 11/10.
It was, and is one of the best experiences ever.
Why do you think that your experience NUST has been the best?
Because I’ve had the best campus life, I mean I have friends in LUMS and FAST and all over Pakistan, given that I’m an army brat and I’ve traveled basically everywhere. When I converse with them, these things always come up and we all agree on how amazing NUST is.
The campus, the scenery, the hostel life, the wonderful central library, I mean everything is available here and it all adds up to something phenomenal, you’ll never get bored here so yes, I really enjoyed my time here.
Alright so, Let’s talk about NIMUN. Could you describe your journey of progression through this event?
“Best Journey Ever”
I started off as a volunteer in my freshman year, I actually got rejected in my Interview of applying as a team member. I think this was primarily because I wasn’t as groomed as I am now. In the following year (2016), I officially joined as a member of Team External Relations. I got promoted to DD in the year following that and in 2018-19, I got promoted and selected as the Secretary General.
Do you have any personal affiliations with Model United Nations, or was it just NIMUN?
I’ve actually been involved in the MUN Circuit since I was in grade ninth, I’ve been a part of numerous MUN conferences and I believe that they groomed me a lot. I was provided with Knowledge, Communication, Leadership and Diplomatic skills. I’d say I have a very strong connection with Model United Nations before I came to NUST and that drove me to join NIMUN in the first place.
Why’d you chose NIMUN over other events?
I’ve actually been a part of the NUST Olympiad as well, in team External Relations. But, as I said a major chunk of my past involved MUNs so I favored it. And other than that, I believe NIMUN is more professional than any-other activity organized on Campus, and it honestly made me feel at home.
It groomed me a lot and I believe that it will do the same for anyone else who chooses to apply for it. The people here are super friendly, don’t fall into the myth that students from NBS are arrogant and show a lot of attitude, they’re very welcoming and I don’t feel that there is any sort of discrimination exhibited here. In short, I loved it and I’d definitely recommend it!
Do you have any story from your time in NIMUN that you closely remember and would like to share?
I have one from this NIMUN actually.
It was the first day of NIMUN’19 and Sir Kashir, the faculty head, called me to his office early in the morning. He was in a very agitated mood and as soon as I entered he handed me a file that he had received from the rector and said
“Ye file parho, aur paani lo aur usme doob ke mar jao”
That moment just blanked me and I honestly didn’t know what had just happened.
Anyway, I opened the file and saw that it contained a printed email which the rector had received from the parent of a delegate who had complained about the event being too expensive, the management being pathetic and not providing the delegates with proper information and guidance.
The Rector Actually wrote that he wanted to meet me, the Secretary General.
It honestly felt as if that would’ve been the end. All the three months of hard work we had done felt like they would just go down the drain since the situation were very tense.
I rushed to the ER room where the OC was gathered, and got the teams to contact people in LUMUN, MUNIK and other top Model UNs across the country to compare their fee structure and show how we’re actually more affordable.
We printed screenshots that had been sent to the delegates in the groups we had made for them, to prove our management wasn’t at fault and had properly communicated everything to the participants.
We hurriedly made a file consisting of all of this and send it to the Rector and that cleared the entire mess up. It was a very intense scenario.
Wow, that was indeed very Intense.
Now on a lighter note, let’s talk about what you felt after you were given the role of the SG.
Quite frankly, I never expected to be the Secretary General. I did apply and gave the interview but there had been a trend in NIMUN that the President and SG is almost always from NBS so I didn’t think I stood a chance.
What happened was that 2 days after giving the Interview, I was having dinner with my little brother and got a text saying I’d been selected! It was very shocking; I couldn’t believe it! NIMUN is very close to my heart and you can imagine how excited I must have been! It was a huge leap for me.
What’s your motivation for going forward in life and is there anyone who has been a role-model and constant support for you?
I wish to start my own business venture, and I’ve already taken the first step towards that by starting ‘Penta Event Management’. I’m currently working on it and it has had a very good start until now and I’m hoping to take that forward and develop it on a larger scale. Also, I’d like to mention that there is one person who I’m really grateful for and that’s my younger brother. He’s in his final semester in FAST and he’s always been a source of support for me, he’s always motivated me and was always there for me.
What would you advise someone who’d want to follow in your footsteps and get into NIMUN or any other major event in NUST?
The best advice I can give is: ‘Be Yourself’. Don’t be a show-off in the interview and don’t try to be someone else. I’ve taken a lot of Interviews and believe me, it’s a huge turn-off when someone starts lying about their experience or if they use a fake accent just to try and impress the Interviewer. I mean, if you don’t have any experience at all, but you’re committed to the cause, you’re motivated to learn and develop yourself then that’s all you need. Just show your passion and that’ll get you through, being someone who you aren’t is doing the exact opposite.
Is there any recommendation for students who want to reach the levels you have attained?
Never miss an opportunity! Apply everywhere when the applications open. Be it FICS, NIMUN or the Olympiad. NUST has a lot of studies, but it also gives you so many experiences and you should never fail to apply for them since they’re very valuable and are a great use of your time. I’ve been in NIMUN for 4 years and Alhamdullillah my GPA is great and I recently aced my final defense and got an A. One should just learn to manage their time and these tasks properly since these experiences groom you into a better person, you learn how to speak properly. You gain presentation skills and you ultimately build your personality.
That’s how you improve yourself, staying in class and memorizing everything isn’t going to do you any favors. These are the real things which are far are more important for practical life, and that’s something which I’ve learnt recently whilst giving job interviews. So yeah, utilize these opportunities given by NUST as much as possible. Try everything, get out of your comfort zone, expand your social circle and make memories.
How has your experience with NUST Media Club and PaperCrush been today?
I’d say it’s been a very good experience and you guys did a really good job. I’ve heard so much about NMC, especially that it has more following and likes than even the biggest events in NUST and that’s a huge achievement. It’s a great platform and is very well-established and I wish it best of luck for its future.
We really enjoyed spending time with you and hope you did too! Thank You!
With that, Marks the end of the Interview with Mr. Fahad Ayaz, the Secretary General of NIMUN’19.
He’s an amazing person and taking the interview was actually a very learning experience!
If you, the person reading this, know anyone who’s story we could cover with Beyond Paper for our coming chapters, then do let us know by filling out the following form:
With that we bid you farewell!
Join us for future segments of the Beyond Paper Series!
