Duke MQM Student Blog

Adjusting to life in the U.S. was about more than just adapting to a new food culture; it was about finding a way to feel at home in a place that was vastly different from where I grew up.

When I looked into what Team Fuqua meant, I saw that it was described as a whole that values strong friendship, places great importance on collaboration, and is ready to support each other at all times.

The India and Pakistan Independence Day celebration event enabled me to meet the individuals who are presently my closest friends in the MQM program.

I didn't know that everyone is alone together. hough that may sound a bit existential, I soon realized that I wasn’t the only one in the program who left everything behind to attend Duke in hopes of building a better life.

I got my acceptance from Fuqua in December 2018, and by the beginning of 2019, I had made up my mind about spending the next year of my life in Durham, North Carolina.

My time abroad and at graduate school at Duke has been a journey of self-discovery, self-love, making family out of strangers, and finding home in new places.

Since emigrating from Pakistan to the U.S. two years ago, I’ve met hundreds of new people and made great new friends. However, before Fuqua, I always craved having a community that I could feel a part of.