Muhammad Usman Yousaf

English 101
13 February 2015
Essay #1
America: The Dreamland with Hidden Poverty
My name is Muhammad Usman Yousaf. I am originally from Pakistan
and I came to the United States on September 16, 2013. In Pakistan, I
completed my bachelors degree in commerce and after that I started a
course called Association of Chartered Public Accountant (ACCA United
Kingdom Chartered Body). Over there I took part in extracurricular activities
and even organized an international conference on global issues with other
students called RYMUN. It was successful and I was offered an opportunity to
attend a conference at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. I came
to the United States, visited different universities. I saw the educational
system and the civilization of this country, as well as technology and other
advancements. After observing all of these things, I decided to take
admission in college here and complete the rest of my education in the
United States. My level of education in USA is the equivalent of an
associates degree of accounting. Now I am pursuing a B.A. in Business
Administration at Endicott College.
I was born in a small village of Kashmir Pakistan and began my
education in a school that did not even have a roof. If it was raining, we
would be dismissed from school. I only attended Kindergarten at that school
and then moved to another school. In Pakistan, students can attend public

school or private school. My brothers and sister attended public school. My

parents observed their experiences in the public school and wanted me to
attend a private school so that I might receive a good education and be
successful in life. Private education is very expensive, so it was not easy for
my parents to send me to this school. I then moved to Islamabad, the capital
of Pakistan, where I attended a better school. When I was in college, I
participated in extracurricular activities and even organized a conference
with my peers. At this conference, called RYNUM, twelve ambassadors from
different countries discussed various topics including global issues such as
terrorism. RYNUM became very successful and was a turning point in my life
because, on the last day, I was awarded with an opportunity to attend a
conference at Harvard University in the United States of America. That was
the happiest moment in my life; I achieved something and my parents were
happy about this. I never thought of coming to America because my parents
had planned for me to study in London. As I have a very sensitive nature,
seeing homeless and/or disabled people begging for money along the road,
in order to provide for their families, has always made me sick. I would
always end up giving them whatever amount of money I had in my pocket.
Partially because of this, my parents wanted me to go to London so that I
would not see such things and would be able to live a peaceful life while
pursuing a successful future. However, the moment I received both
acceptance from Harvard University and my VISA was a happy moment for
all of us. In other countries, we picture American life as a stable and full of

easy facilities. For example, if you are in America, we would think that you
have no problems.
Upon arriving in the United States of America, I observed the
civilization, the rules, and the regulations of this country which protect its
citizens. I also observed the overall infrastructure and quality of education
here. I felt like I had stepped into a new world. I visited different states and
became attracted to this society. I felt like I had a new perspective on life. I
compared my level of education with the American standards and found
myself to be behind in this world race. I decided to further my education
here. I learned about the civilization and modern culture with the intent to go
back and help the people of my country. I want to teach them about western
civilization. My experiences in America have been great; I met people who
have been and continue to be really helpful to me. I was in New York,
searching for a college, had no direction, and ended up reaching Endicott
College. Julie Bear, a former advisor at this college, assisted me greatly and
asked me to attend Endicott College. She said she would help me gain
admission and advise me as needed. I am now pursuing a degree at Endicott
College.
As I began observing people of America and then comparing them with
the people of Pakistan, I found a big difference. Here, people are so civilized
and respect the rules not because they are scared to get punished but
because they have an appreciation for them. People of different ethnicities

work together, under one roof, without any discrimination. I always feel
good. One day I saw a guy picking up his dogs waste, walk to a trash can,
and throw it there. This experience was shocking to me because back home,
people will not even pick up paper from road. You could say some consider it
disgraceful to do so; we have servants to do things such as this. However,
seeing this man clean up after his dog brought about a change in me and
now, if I ever eat out, I keep the wrapper in hand until I find any trash can.
Those of us from less developed countries can learn a lot from this
civilization. This is the reason we choose to come to America; we can learn
and then educate those who cannot come to countries like America. I always
say that citizens of America are blessed and do not know what people in less
developed countries suffer.
I once had a night class at the Endicott Boston campus. When I got out,
I saw homeless people sleeping in front of almost every big building. That
was really shocking to me. Some people came to me and asked for food or
loose change. For a moment, I thought maybe I was dreaming that I was in
America but I realized that I was here. As I went out more often, I found that
it is the same here as it is in less developed countries. I saw a lot of
homeless people. I saw some people who worked two jobs but can hardly pay
their bills. I saw the hidden poverty of America and how people are suffering
here. I never told my parents that I can see all of that here too because they
will get so worried. I never thought people would struggle like this in
America.