From High School to Launching a Start-up: My Unique Experiences at LUMS

Alina Majeed BSc’ 20

After my A levels, the scramble for college admissions ended when I got accepted into LUMS. Coming into university a few weeks later than the rest of my batch, I dreaded the turbulence of settling in at a new place. Just like any other person coming out of their A levels, I was anxious whether LUMS was the right choice for me or not. Three and a half years down the road, I look back to a delightful journey that has made me who I am today.

My fondness for LUMS stems from the unique experiences I’ve had with the University. It’s a place where there’s no lacuna of opportunities. If you have the drive to follow your passion, LUMS will provide the platforms to accelerate your growth across every possible realm; be it academics, professional experience, or extra-curricular activities. The latter is achieved through more than 33 societies on campus, some of which have an international presence as well.

In fact, I’ve been a part of one such society, which happens to be the largest and most prestigious Model UN of Pakistan – LUMS Model UN Society (LUMUN). LUMUN has been an integral part of my LUMS experience, not only because of the friends I made within the society but also because of the exposure it gave to me. I represented Pakistan at the Model UN Turkey conference, where we were able to bag the best delegation award, among hundreds of schools and colleges from around the world. Furthermore, LUMUN helped hone my leadership skills because I was the Committee Director twice in three years.

In terms of academics, LUMS gives you the opportunity to study a myriad of interdisciplinary courses and build a holistic perspective. The University now offers various exciting majors across five different schools. As a Management Science student, I have taken courses in programming and political science, apart from a variety of different courses offered at the business school. The diversity in coursework has enhanced my creativity and polished my technical skills. Through various corporate exposure programmes hosted by the business school, I got the chance to network and learn from industry leaders, which helped build my business acumen.

Speaking of creativity and business acumen, the Career Services Office at LUMS helped me find the right place to advance my professional development. In the summer of 2019, I interned with PepsiCo International where I worked in the HR department to streamline their Labour Relations front, a dimension previously unknown to me. The intense curriculum and rigour of academics at LUMS helped me in the professional domain, as I leveraged my quantitative modelling skills to make the most of my internship at PepsiCo.

Albeit every experience at LUMS has had its unique role in crafting my development, my greatest experience has been kick-starting an entrepreneurial venture at the Suleman Dawood School of Business. The start-up goes by the name of “Totes” and provides customisable handbags to women all across the country. I enrolled in an entrepreneurship course, which provided me the platform and equipped me with the essential tools to co-found and run the business effectively. Being an entrepreneur at the age of 22 is a stellar accolade, and LUMS gave me the chance to propel my entrepreneurial pursuits.

This June, I’ll be taking away a wealth of memories and experiences from LUMS. In nearly four years at the University, I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what opportunities you’re missing out on. What really matters is what you make of the opportunities at your disposal, and my experiences here at LUMS are a testament to that.