Maieda Janjua is a rising senior at Dartmouth College from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She is a Computer Science major and a Women’s and Gender Studies minor.

Why did you decide to come to the United States?

Studying abroad had never been something I’d seriously considered before my senior year of high school, but I knew I didn’t want to follow the typical career path that my family and friends expected of me – from high school to a medical college and then to a safe and secure job in the medical field. At the age of 17, I recognized the potential that I had but didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, and the idea of exploring different options really appealed to me. So a big reason for my decision to come to the US was the flexibility with which you get to choose your fields of study here, and that has been truly invaluable.

Of course, the prospect of expanding my horizons through cultural exchange, international travel, and meeting people from all over the world with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences – that was incredibly exciting. Learning from the people you surround yourself with is equally, if not more, important than what you study in the classroom, and I wanted to be on a campus that would intellectually engage and challenge me everyday.

Why did you choose to study at Dartmouth College?

I was deciding between a couple of colleges in the US when I received my acceptance from Dartmouth. Dartmouth immediately stood out to me because of its incredible financial aid package, which was a huge deciding factor for me as an international student from Pakistan and the main reason I could study abroad at all.

How has your experience been so far?

It has been absolutely phenomenal. I can’t believe how much I’ve grown as a person since the start of freshman fall. I’ve met wonderful people and formed lifelong friendships. I’ve taken some truly mind-blowing classes and worked with the coolest professors in the world. I’ve had those 3 AM conversations with some of the most brilliant people, sharing our life stories, teaching and learning from one another. I’ve tried so many new things I never thought I’d be interested in or capable of. There have been difficult moments too, of course – feeling overwhelmed by the rigorous academic schedule, being so far away from home, juggling so many commitments at the same time. But every challenge has been a lesson learned, and every experience has helped me learn more about my goals, my values and myself.

Did you experience culture shock?

The funny thing is, you don’t realize you’re going through culture shock until you’re on the other side of it. You expect it to hit you the moment you step off the plane – like the air will be different, or maybe the people will talk weirdly, or you’ll gasp when you encounter a parking meter for the first time. But it’s definitely subtler than that, and more overwhelming in that way because the little things add up. I was in the “honeymoon phase” for most of freshman fall, which is the time when everything is new and exciting and wonderful. But soon I found myself feeling out of my depth in classes, social interactions, and conversations – the academic calendar was challenging, and the social norms were mostly unfamiliar. (I particularly remember an incident when someone made a joke and then winked at me, and I felt offended because winking is often perceived as tasteless flirtation in Pakistan.) In fact, it took me almost the entire year to fully adjust and to feel comfortable being myself. But it was a valuable learning process, and I’m glad to be where I am now.

Where do you see yourself after graduation?