Walwala Bashir’s journey to the McCourt School of Public Policy began more than 7,000 miles away in Balochistan, Pakistan. She was raised in Quetta, the provincial capital, where mountains and deserts define the landscape. Although Balochistan is rich in natural resources, it remains the poorest province in the country. Growing up, Bashir witnessed a clear gap between the region’s potential and its development realities.
As a woman, she directly experienced this inequality and observed how deeply it affected other women.
Gender influenced access to education, participation in decision-making, and overall opportunities. “I was always surrounded by a cultural setup where women were designated or attached to a few roles,” says Bashir.
Determined to challenge these norms, she began working for change during her undergraduate studies. She launched initiatives to increase women’s participation in student governance and organized events featuring female professionals.
These efforts created opportunities for young women from traditional backgrounds to see new possibilities for themselves.
“The goal was always the same: I wanted more women to be in education, because education for women is not a priority in the region,” she says.
She understood that her work needed to go beyond campus. With limited job opportunities in her hometown and increasing expectations placed on young women, Bashir applied to the McCourt School during her sixth semester and was accepted.
Within a month of completing her degree, she moved to the United States—her first time leaving Pakistan—to begin her studies in Washington, DC.
“It was really a very transformative journey,” she says.
“I was doing everything on my own for the first time — navigating the city, finding housing, everything.”
Holding a degree in international relations from Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, she pursued a master’s in international development policy.
She adapted to the program’s quantitative focus with the help of academic support and teaching assistants.
“I managed to navigate my way through my quantitative studies because of the facilities McCourt provides and all the teaching assistants who helped me understand the courses,” Bashir says.
In Washington, she became actively involved in supporting other international students through Georgetown’s International Ambassador Program.
She also participated in the Public Policy Challenge, where her team developed a proposal to help immigrant parents better understand the U.S. education system, reaching the finalist stage.
Her experiences extended beyond academics.
As a graduate assistant at the Center for Faith and Justice, she explored interfaith dialogue and attended a church service for the first time.
“It was a meaningful experience to see how different faiths can stand under the same roof, talk about problems, and pray about those problems together,” she reflects.
As she approaches graduation, Bashir plans to continue working in development policy.
She emphasizes the importance of communication in policymaking. “Policy is for people,” Bashir says.
“Unless you talk to people, you can’t understand them. And if you don’t understand them, you cannot come up with a policy that addresses their issues.
This is one of the biggest lessons I learned at McCourt.”
Her long-term goal is to return to Balochistan and apply her knowledge to address the challenges she experienced growing up.
“Graduating with this degree is valuable for me because rarely does somebody from the town I’m from get to study internationally,” she highlights. “There’s a responsibility on my shoulders to give back.”
