By Muhammad Rabbani, YES 2014-2015, Pakistan

From the very time I departed from Pakistan, I knew that I would not be able to play a lot of Pakistani sports in the USA, and that probably every sport I would play in the USA would be a new experience. I've participated in a few American sports like, soccer, foursquare and basketball. The soccer season ended after two months of my stay here. In the last game, I scored a goal within 30 seconds of the end and got featured in the newspaper. Alas! The season came to an end.

My hunger to play cricket had been increasing day by day. There is no cricket in this part of the world. I arranged cricket equipment all by myself and asked the school officials about starting a cricket club in my school. They were glad to hear about it and were interested in the idea. I started the club very recently, and it is great to see a lot of students already inclined towards cricket now. There are around 20 students who are learning cricket and more are expected to join soon. I feel that it was an innovative idea to depict my culture through sports. I believe that people want to know more about your country if you're open to sharing and expressing yourself. It was hard for me to arrange all of the equiptment required for the sport, but I really wanted to do something new and leave a positive impression on the people around me. With that being said, I have become the very first exchange student to start a "cricket club." It is an honor.