“Wait a second, tum EM mein ho?”

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In IBA, you can belong to any degree program, but people turn their heads when you mention you are an EM student. They will have a good look at you as if you were some sacrificial goat en route to slaughter. When I was a freshman, I got tired of having this one conversation over and over with literally anyone I spoke to. This is how it went like:

“wait a second, tum EM mein ho???”

“haan”

“khudki choice se liya tha?”

“haan”

“pagal ho?”

“haan”

What is EM?

Are you a non-IBA person and wondering what the hell is an EM? No worries, let me break it down to you. Here at IBA, EM stands for thori see Economics and dher sari Mathematics. Since I like to be humble, I think EM doesn’t especially have a greater course load. However, it is a general notion that mathematics scares people. So, if you keep the usual IBA-crazy workload, but also add math to it, people start sweating. For a person who likes math, EM isn’t special, it’s equally depressing as any other program at IBA. (read: I just don’t want you to think I’m a loser. Truth is, I am literally DYING AAAAA HELP)

EMs are smart AF: fact or myth?

There is a very fine line between being smart and having a false notion that you are, because of a stereotype. For this reason, I’ve seen some of the dumbest kids on the block in EM (humbly including myself) flex their pseudo intellect onto people from other degrees. Do not ever feel inferior when sitting next to an EM student, he isn’t any better than you. Final roll-out answer? Issa myth. But please let us keep it. We like telling ourselves that because it’s the only thing that keeps us rolling through this degree without killing ourselves. There’s no other silver lining to our otherwise dry, antisocial lives. So hell yes bro I’m smart. Bye.

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Be kind to us because we’re already dying

Do you notice an air of self-criticism in this article? That must tell you something about the personality of an EM student. They, i.e. the academically serious of them, hold themselves to a very high standard of expectations. Many of them quietly roam around, looking fairly ordinary; however, underneath this facade, is an individual who has fallen victim to severe stress, anxiety, and loneliness. They are also extremely hardworking and disciplined. Consequently, they will be the first to pass on socializing, hanging out, and doing other fun activities because of a heaping courseload together with closely clustered assignments and quizzes. So next time you meet an EM friend, please at least buy her a drink, I’m telling you she needs one.

Curiosity killed the cat…but satisfaction brought it back

In the end, I’d like to ask something, for research purposes (ahem. That. Or because I don’t have a life) .

I’ve noticed a lot of EM students are hostelites. I often wonder what that means? Is it that non-residents of Karachi are more ambitious because they’re making a bigger leap–coming all the way to another city for education– and so are naturally inclined to take on a rigorous field? Or is it merely their aversion to risk-taking or lack of awareness to not choose fields such as entrepreneurship and social sciences?

In addition to that, interestingly, of those who didn’t take EM by choice, but are stuck with it, most tend to be Karachiites.

Now to clean up the mess, I formally state the two-part hypothesis:  

i. As an EM student, you are more likely to be a hostelite, compared to other programs.

_{This is a tricky probability so please read the sentence again. Remember, EM students are generally less in number, that is why I said probability compared to the other programs. This is equivalent of saying that the percentage of hostelite students in EM is greater than in other programs, even if we’re talking about a comparison of a 10 to 15 percent. Ok, now you’re probably like, wait I thought I got it at first… now she just confused me more.}

ii. If you are in EM not by choice, you’re likely to be a day scholar.

 What do you think about the hypothesis? Do you agree? If yes, why do you think so? If no, bash me in the comments!