KARACHI: “Don’t be afraid of failures as you learn from them. Set your goals and keep going to achieve them,” said mountaineer Samina Baig while telling the story of her expedition to K2 at the Aga Khan University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Library.

Ms Baig spoke at the varsity’s lecture series ‘Beyond the Shelves’ to a packed audience comprising of students, faculty and staff, including young students from the Aga Khan Higher Secondary School.

The mountaineer climbed the K2 summit in July this year and became the first Pakistani woman to achieve the milestone.

Ms Baig shared her experiences of climbing the seven highest mountains in seven continents, and the challenges she encountered as each terrain was unique.

She shared that her mountaineering journey started from her own native village Shimshal Valley in Hunza Gojal, Gilgit-Baltistan at a very young age.

“My brother Mirza Baig was my trainer and mentor and accompanied me on many of my adventures,” she said.

She told the audience that her first expedition to K2 was in 2015, but after suffering an injury while climbing, she was not able to make it to the top.

“I kept hope alive and continued my training,” she said.

Talking about the hardships in mountaineering, she said: “It is a matter of life and death. One has to live away from home for months in severe weather conditions and it is not possible to persevere if one is not strong – mentally and physically. The key is never to lose hope and keep your mission at the forefront.”

Ms Baig, who strongly advocates for gender equality and women’s empowerment, strongly encouraged the young females to come forward to show the world that they could scale the highest peaks and conquer the world.

In his welcome remarks, AKU President Dr Sulaiman Shahabuddin said: “She [Samina] is a woman who punched a hole in that ceiling, climbed through it and kept on going, to the highest point on earth.”

Earlier opening the event, Dr Anjum Halai, vice provost and founding Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, informed the audience that this was the first in a series of events at the faculty.

She read a verse from Iqbal’s poetry referring to the youth as Shaheen (falcon) which soars high to achieve success and said: “Today we have such a Shaheen [ amongst us – Samina Baig – a role model for all.”

The session was moderated by Dr Fozia Parveen, assistant professor at AKU’s Institute for Educational Development.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2022