Record-Setting Student is Inspired to Make Change Happen at Leadership Summit 

Cambridge student Ali Moeen Nawazish Warraich encourages other young leaders to “do extraordinary things”

If you’d like to meet outstanding international students, People to People programs are the place to do it. Ali Moeen Nawazish Warraich, a 19-year-old student from Pakistan, is one such exceptional student and a participant in the People to People Leadership Summit in 2008. Today a Computer Sciences student at Cambridge University in England, Ali has founded a charity organization called stepUP Pakistan and earned recognition from Pakistan’s president. While not all Student Leaders earn national attention, Ali argues that they can still make a difference in their world. His advice to other students pursuing their dreams: “Be ordinary, but do extraordinary things.”

Ali has already accomplished some extraordinary feats. During his summer break from Cambridge, he worked with stepUP Pakistan to meet his goal of improving Pakistan through prejudice-free education. Ali says his People to People summit at Stanford encouraged him to found this organization. “Change [is] possible,” he explains. “What you learn [during the program] is something you can use to actually bring change.”

In 2009, Ali’s high academic achievements were recognized by Pakistan’s president and earned him one of the country’s highest civilian honors, the Pride of Performance Award. In addition, Ali won worldwide recognition for passing 23 A-Level subjects (the U.S. equivalent of advanced-placement, or AP, exams), shattering the previous world record of 13. Ali was also accepted into several Ivy League schools, including Harvard and Yale. Ali devoted countless hours to study and preparation. He says he stayed motivated “by keeping the end goal in mind. The way I see it, I am in this world for 70, maybe 80, years and I need to leave my mark before I go.”

With his unique international perspective, what does this talented young man have to say about connecting with youth around the globe through experiences like People to People Ambassador Programs? “I am a kid from Pakistan, but I am like any other teenager,” he claims. “We are more alike than we are different. It’s time we… learn to live in peace.”

His words reflect People to People’s ongoing vision of a world in which ordinary citizens around the globe connect—for the good of every nation. Ali made this vision his own when he returned home from his Leadership Summit with new ideas, leadership skills, and a commitment to bettering his country. As positive change comes to Pakistan, you can be sure that Ali Moeen Nawazish Warraich was no small part of it.