Fatima Shafi

Background

About Fatima Shafi

When you are young, you think you can change the world but as the reality of life, old traditions and shackles of culture come stand as obstacles in your face you realize, maybe not! I am by no means trying to state that I did not have the strength and the determination to overcome those traditions and break the shackles, but what was next? An Officer who was resented and ridiculed because she wanted to and did perform commensurate to her rank and qualification, but she was a woman. My reason for discharge from PAF. I have a lot of courage, but maybe not enough to invest 20 some prime years of my life to wait and see if I could change the way people think in Pakistan. So in 2008, with 2 suitcases, I showed up in Vero Beach, Florida at 10pm only to find myself at a deserted gas station and the only passenger getting off the Grey Hound bus. It was a moment out of the movies, I had no cell phone, did not know anybody, didn't know where I was, didn't have coins to use the public phone and didn't have any phone numbers for a cab service, and my English was broken too on top of the culture shock I was in! Two hours, multiple phone calls to cab companies and one 911 call later, I was on my way to FlightSafety to become a pilot. The little things in life that we never give too much importance to, carry a lot meaning and value, like being able to breathe in free air and not have a feeling of being judged and harassed all the time. Things like having a cell phone to call a cab or like having a friend or family member around in the country you live in as your support group. I learnt the value of these little things when I came to USA. The opportunity to become an Aviator, that I was looking for in my own country, in many unsaid words was denied to me, but I got that opportunity in the USA and thats why I now call it home. Where I can not only pursue my career but can do so freely, which is what matters the most to me. Thank you USA for letting me break free of the shackles!