Throughout my time in school and college, I was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. When I passed my intermediate examination I earned the Gold Medal who best combines academic achievement with overall contribution to college life. I twice represented my class on student council, co-edited my college magazine, peer-tutored, and played on numerous sports teams. I continue many of these activities today. However my favorite extra-curricular activity was always debating.

My college was lucky enough to have a teacher who cared deeply about debating. Her name was Sara Khan, and she had a profound impact on my life. I still 

remember the first time I debated in front of her. It was in the first year, and she ta come to our classroom to introduce us to debating. She asked for eight volunteers take part in a debate. The topic: This House Prefers Baths to Showers. I was on team bath and, as a shy student, I remember being incredibly nervous as we huddled in the hallway and brainstormed reasons why baths are better than shower The actual speaking part is a bit of a blur in my memory. / was probably in front da the class for less than 30 seconds, but in my mind it was much longer and quis painful. I didn't debate again until I was in second year, when I was reunited we Mrs. Javaid in an elective debating class. The topic was about funding our local zoo and this time I was given several weeks to prepare my arguments, something I much preferred. Instead of being nervous, I was excited to show off my skills in front of my classmates.

As my college time went on, I continued to debate. I went from being shy and nervous in front of an audience, to confidently delivering arguments on a wide variety of topics. In addition to learning how to talk, I learned how to listen. I keenly followed the arguments of my opponents, searching for flawed logic or questionable assumptions. And these skills paid off. In the last period I started winning various debating tournaments at college level. I went to Inter-Colleges Debates twice.

I continued to improve and gain confidence. I qualified for, and ranked highly in, the Pakistan National Speaking Tournament. In First Year grade I represented Pakistan at the World Individuals Public Speaking Championship in Singapore There I made the finals in three out of the four events and placed thirteenth overall In 12th grade I placed 10th overall at the International Independent Colleges Public Speaking competition, and again represented Paksitan at the World Individuals, this time in Reading, England.

On a personal level, these competitions helped me make friends all over the world, improved my confidence, and instilled in me a love of international travel. On an intellectual level, they exposed me to a wide variety of topics I would otherwise have never considered. I learned to think critically and examine an issue from multiple perspectives. I loved working past the rhetoric in my opponent's speeches and pointing out flaws in their arguments. Sometimes I was given many months to prepare a topic, and sometimes I was only given two minutes. Whichever the case, I always had to be creative in developing and articulating my arguments.

Since school, I have focused on other pursuits. However I still volunteer regularly as a debate coach or judge. This year I am assisting several first year university students in reviving my college's competitive debating society. I owe tremendous amount to Sara Khan for making my debating experiences possible. The lessons I learned from her will stay with me forever. When I reflect on myself as a nervous and confused debator, I am amazed at how much debating has changed me. I know that there is much more to being a lawyer than just arguing, but I believe that many of the skills I attained through debating will contribute to my success in la college and a legal career.