Fact Sheet
First name: Awais
Country of origin: Pakistan
Year of birth: 1991
Field of study: Journalism and Mass Communication
German university: University of Passau
University location: Passau
Type of stay: PhD
I have been writing for the blog since: August 2022
My hobbies and interests: Horse riding, badminton, travelling, reading, cycling
About Awais
Coming to Germany for higher education and getting one of the most prestigious DAAD scholarship was once my dream. There was a long-time self-struggle and extended support of my mentors, parents and my siblings to make this dream come true. Since school days, I enjoyed reading newspapers, novels, biographies and participating in debate competitions. My long-term interests and all-time curiosity of finding the grassroot level of every social and political problem in my surroundings was something that made me to choose journalism as my profession. In 2015, I joined the BBC World Service as a monitoring consultant, and I thought this way I would contribute more by highlighting the issues of my people. During this period, working and reporting on several social and political campaigns, talking with many politicians and stakeholders, I have had many opportunities to add value and position myself as a resource within these discussions. However, without a sound understanding of policy implications, I felt I was leaving quite a bit of opportunities on the table. Therefore, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and gain more knowledge about policy making processes and its effective implementations in developing countries like Pakistan.
I have chosen Germany, because in 2013, I had a wonderful experience attending a summer school (funded by DAAD) on political communication. It was wherein I got a chance to interact with experts and students of public policy in Erfurt University. Their clear vision and command on the subject added to my enthusiasm and at that time I decided to pursue my higher education in Germany.
Luckily In 2017, Once again I got DAAD scholarship to study Master’s in Public Policy and Good Governance at the University of Passau. It was a big change over but interesting to set up a new lifestyle, cycling through the wide and clean streets of Munich and Passau was a whole new experience for me. Exploring different cultures and customs, visiting the historical sites in Europe, and meeting students coming from very diverse backgrounds is something I have been learning from. These experiences made me grown both personally and professionally.
Currently I am doing a Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication (funded by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung) at University of Passau.