It was always my dream to come to the United States to pursue my college degree. And trust me, I know millions have that dream. Maybe one of you reading this, dream of what I dreamt. But before I give you all the advancements on that, let me introduce myself. My name is Maliha Suleman and I am from India. But, I never got a chance to live in that country, I resided in Oman (a small country in the Middle East). My childhood was very enjoyable but different. I made friends for life in my second home country. Friends I treasure till this day and always will.

It all started with sketches of dresses on pieces of scrap paper. I started drawing at first only I pencil, then I went to colouring the dresses and giving them designs. Once in a while, I would even show the pattern to a tailor and ask him to make it for me (he charged me of course!). By the 10^th standard/grade I was applying to several colleges and universities in USA. Donna Karan (an infamous designer in USA) graduated from ”Parsons” in New York. Guess where I wanted to go? That’s right, to Parsons. Did it ever happen? Nope. My parents were not very supportive on that issue. They thought designing was a ”no-scope” career.

After several confrontations with myself, I decided to go in for journalism. I liked writing and HATED studying maths or science or anything of that sort. So, I appeared for my SAT’s (and studied 1 week before the exam date…not recommended). But, managed to pull off an ok score. I did my TOEFL and did excellent in it.

But something unexpected was going to happen. After all those dreams and tears and work, my parents decided to keep me back in Oman. No WAY was I going to give up. I spoke to a relative and they did the talking to my parents.

Here I am today, studying journalism at The Texas Christian University in USA!! Hated my first year here. But, things brightened up thereafter. I may not party as much as I used to, I may not talk to as many people as I used to, I may not be smiling and laughing as often as I used to, but I’m closer to making my dream a reality every day.

I am applying to the Houston Community College in Texas for a course in Visual Merchandising (very closely related to fashion). And still hope one day that I will attend Parsons and perhaps be the next Donna Karan! (I wish).

I hope someone has been inspired by this story of mine and remember don’t give up. If I had, I wouldn’t be this close to making a dream into reality. J