SLS School students return from abroad

Rawalpindi

Two students of Sadeeqa’s Learning System (SLS) Montessori & High School recently came back after being in the United States for a year under iEarn’s Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Programme, says a press release.

Yumna Owais and Maira Asrar, students of the SLS, Lalkurti campus were 16 and 15 years old respectively when they were selected to spend one year in the United States as cultural ambassadors of Pakistan.

Yumna lived with the Oliver’s family and went to Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland. Apart from studying a diverse range of subjects which included Modern American Culture, and Film Making, Yumna was also on the school track team, in the theatre club and a member of Churchill Robotics team. She worked as a member at a suicide awareness and prevention programme among the student community and completed 100 hours of community service at an old persons home. Yumna had a special inclination towards sports and choose Physical Education as a subject. This enabled her to learn archery, swimming, horseback riding, ice-skating, softball, tennis, and basketball amongst other sports.

Maira was hosted by the Ochoas’ family in Lewis Centre, Ohio where she attended Olentangy Orange High School. Maira was a part of her school’s Service Club where they conducted different community service activities for different holidays. She worked as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity (an organisation that builds houses for needy people) which enabled her to go on a service trip to South Carolina with her school where she helped with the flooring and decking of the houses being built. 

Excelling in Mathematics made her work as a volunteer tutor at a high school. Maira initiated the celebration of International Education Week at her high school and kicked it off by introducing Pakistan to her host school. She said the best part of her stay was that not only did she get to experience American culture but also Mexican culture since her host Dad was Hispanic.

In the last decade, SLS School has sent 30 students for this study abroad programme. Three more students will be leaving for their study abroad this year.