Pakistan Alumni Association
The Pakistan Alumni Association has taken off to a flying
start with their opening event on 5 July, which took place at
York St John University in Temple Hall. The participants of the
event were greeted by the Pakistan flag and the warm smile of the
team captains who were preparing for the Dodge Ball games. The
captains were Brett Arnall for the Alumni, Hassan Azeez for the
International team, Muhammad Arifeen, Israr Azam, Qaiser Chand and
Fraisal Nadeen. The Alumni team included Pauline Milner, Sophie
Atkinson and Amy Lynch, the new intern student, and in the
International team we had Jamie Pennington, Carissa King and
Nicholas Lindley.
Brett and Israr opened the event with a
short speech of welcome and thanks for all who were partaking in
the games. The event was taking place to kick start the Pakistan
Alumni Association that is working with YSJ Alumni to recruit more
international students. Through events and a network of students
the Alumni can spread the word of YSJ to the respective countries
in the hope that our students and theirs will gain more experience,
understanding and knowledge of other cultures and countries outside
of their own. The speech was concluded with Israr’s apt words:
“kick it off with the dodge ball game” – Let the games
commence.
All the teams played well, especially the
Alumni and International teams as this was the first time any of
them had played Dodge Ball. Neither of the teams came last in the
finals, the Alumni team, to Brett’s delight, came third, the
International team, after a close and intense match came second and
the winning team was Muhammad Arifeen’s team. Despite the obvious
competitiveness between the teams it was a fun filled afternoon
full of the echoes of laughter and English and Arabic banter that
was hurled across the hall creating a culture rich environment in
which the games were played.
The whole event was rounded off with a
speech from the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Sue Reece. Her opening line
was to commend Brett for his wonderful briefing notes in which he
states that the teams may be ‘a little hot and red faced’, well
after the competitive games they were definitely a little red faced
– whether this was from the games or losing it cannot be
said! Further commendation went to Brett and his team who
were proclaimed ‘the best Alumni team in terms of arranging
events’. Sue went on to say that it was lovely having so many
international students at the University as it is not only
encouraging more international students to come here but also for
our students to go overseas themselves. The Pro-vice Chancellor
concluded her speech with the hope that this is the start to many
more Alumni Associations at York St. John University.
On
behalf of all the “Alumni Association Members” I would like to say
a very warm welcome to the Pakistan Alumni Association. -
Brett Arnall (Alumni Development Manager)
At the
launch event, Israr Azam (Branch Coordinator, Pakistan Alumni
Association) said, “The YSJ Pakistan Alumni Association and its
members are really excited about this as the idea is transforming
into a practical shape after almost one year. The idea of this
association took place in July last year in the minds of some
Pakistani YSJ Alumni when they played a friendly cricket match
against their Sri Lankan friends to support “SPARK”. Some of us decided that day that the next
match will be organised by the YSJ Pakistan Alumni Association and
now we think we are in a position to organise such kinds of events
to promote the internalisation and support the Alumni development
office in raising the funds for “SPARK”.
The cricket match that’s been actually
played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka but few lads from India also
took part in that match, which left some great memories in our
minds as it was an excellent step towards internationalisation and
supporting the “SPARK”.
In future, we are planning to organise
similar kinds of events but would try to expand the boundaries by
involving more people and in this effort we have organised a “Dodge
ball” competition today just to kick off the show.
The Association would work together with
“Alumni Development Office” to support the internationalisation
agenda of the York St. John University through expended network of
old Johns in the recruitment of international students and would
also help “Alumni Development Office” in raising funds for
“SPARK”
I would like to say huge thanks for
participating and making this launch a memorable one.