Khadija Rizwan

Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan

High School: Lahore Grammar School

Major: Psychology

Khadija Rizwan is a junior majoring in psychology at Lewis & Clark. Before coming to LC to study, she had lived her whole life in and around Lahore, Pakistan. She attended school at the Covent of Jesus and Mary, and at Lahore Grammar School in Lahore. Both she and her parents wanted her to study abroad, and Khadija feels lucky that her parents were so motivated to help her come to the US to study.

Khadija applied to a number of colleges and universities on the west coast of the US, without really having a clear idea of what the places were like, or what she wanted to study. “My parents and I looked at the USNews.com rankings, but I was really attracted by the small class size at Lewis & Clark. I’m not comfortable at big places.”

When she arrived in Portland, she found it necessary to adjust both to the place and the people. “We get a lot of American media in Pakistan, but real life here is different from Hollywood movies or even from the TV news.” Khadija has found that many Americans have inaccurate understandings about her country, too, and this has been a great topic of conversation in both the dorms and in the classroom. Khadija will tell you that she has learned at least as much outside the classroom she has inside one.

“I’m kind of an introvert and before I came here I mostly stayed home when I wasn’t at school. But here, sometimes my friends and I are up half the night talking about things. I’ve gotten way more comfortable asking questions and sharing what I know about my culture.” Khadija has made a lot of friends at LC. She’s gotten to know other international students through working on new student orientations and events like the annual international fair. Many of the Americans she knows the best are those she’s lived with in the Spruce residence hall for the last two and half years. “Even though I don’t think I’m a ‘social’ person, it’s been easy to make friends,” she says.

For fun, Khadija likes to visit Portland’s downtown with her friends. Shopping, dinners, and movies are their usual activities. She plans to go on her first-ever College Outdoors program this spring, probably a camping trip somewhere warm and sunny over spring vacation! Here on campus, she’s the chairperson of the South Asian group at the annual International Fair, and will present on a panel in this year’s Gender Studies Symposium.

Khadija’s academic interests are as diverse as the things she does here for fun, so she has made full use of the liberal arts curriculum at Lewis & Clark. At different times, she’s taken courses in math, religion, communication, and biology, before finally settling on psychology as a major. Her favorite class (so far) has been developmental psychology because she loves kids. This semester she’s been chosen as a teaching assistant for the developmental psych class, and she’s learning even more by helping students in the class.

“Studying here has been totally different than back home. I was used to memorizing what I learned in class, and restating my lessons on exams. That is NOT how I study here. Students have to be much more involved in projects, class discussions, and papers. It’s been really hard to adjust, but this way of learning has made me more confident, assertive, and open-minded. I think it’s totally worth the extra effort.”

Khadija has some simple advice to those considering Lewis & Clark College for their undergraduate studies. “Be open-minded; that worked for me. Be prepared to learn more outside the classroom sometimes. And last, greet new experiences because you will have many of them.”