My name is Hijab Shah, and I was born in Birmingham, England, raised in Peshawar, Pakistan, attended high school at an American school in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and somehow ended up here as a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. I am heavily involved with a number of on-campus groups, my favorite of which is my job as a sports editor at The Hoya, the university’s official newspaper.
I have been involved in MUN since sophomore year of high school, and have so far been on the staff for two collegiate conferences. This will be my second NCSC, and after the experience I had the first time around, I can hardly wait to get back.
Having grown up in Peshawar, the city that has in recent months become so prominent on the world stage, first as the playing ground for extremist leaders trying to implement their theocratic rules upon the people of the city, and then as the grounds for victory of the secular ethnic Pashtun ANP in the February elections, issues taking place in Pakistan, literally and figuratively, “hit close to home” for me. It is a country that is so diverse and so divided, yet with some semblance of nationalism that has brought many together in recent times. Yet the divisions still do exist, and some parties would like for these divisions to become permanent.
This committee, the Pakistani Cabinet, addresses these very same differences at the highest levels of government; and for this committee to be as realistic as possible, each delegate and the issue of this committee has to be represented in their truest form, embracing every nuance and every complication that comes with their name and with the people they represent within the context of the situation in Pakistan.
I belong to the tribal regions but even I sometimes have difficulty understanding the delicate nuances of the various cultures within Pakistan. So, if you have any questions or need any help, please feel free to email me. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hoya Saxa!
Hijab Shah
SFS ‘11
hss6(at)georgetown.edu
