A principal’s son from Quetta, shaped by discipline and the habit of listening
Introduction
My name is Zeeshan Baig and I am from Quetta. I grew up in a household run with the same discipline my father brought home from the government school where he has served as principal for many years. Our house always had a fixed routine, a strong emphasis on respect, and an unspoken rule that excuses were rarely accepted. I did not always appreciate this as a child, but as I have grown older I have come to see it as the foundation of whatever self-discipline I now have — and self-discipline, I have come to believe, is the first real requirement of a legal career.
Family Background
My father has spent his entire career in public education and my mother, though not formally employed, has effectively run our household of five with the same organisation and fairness my father brings to his school. I am the eldest of three children, and much of what my younger siblings expect of themselves comes from watching how seriously I take my own responsibilities. No one in our family has studied law before, but my father has always respected it as a field that demands both intelligence and integrity, and that respect was passed on to me long before I consciously decided to pursue it.
Educational Background
I passed my matriculation with good grades from a school in Quetta and selected the pre-law group for intermediate after a long conversation with my father, who encouraged me to choose something that would challenge me rather than something that would simply be easy to pass. I was an active member of my college’s general knowledge and current affairs society, and I found that I enjoyed reading about court cases and constitutional debates in the newspaper far more than I enjoyed most of my actual textbooks. My teachers often noted that I had a calm and steady way of presenting an argument, without needing to raise my voice to make my point.
Reasons for Choosing Law
I am drawn to law because it rewards exactly the qualities my upbringing already emphasised — patience, discipline, and the ability to listen carefully before responding. I have also noticed, growing up in Balochistan, that access to serious legal guidance is not always easy to find outside a few well-known names, and that many people in smaller cities like mine either travel long distances for proper legal help or simply go without it. I want to be someone who did not have to leave his own city to build a respected legal career, and who remained available to the people who needed him most.
How I Plan to Serve My Community and Pakistan
My immediate aim is to build a solid and honest foundation during my years in law college, learning the subject properly rather than rushing through it. In the longer term, I want to practice in a way that keeps me rooted in Balochistan rather than pulling me permanently toward the bigger cities, because I believe my own region needs capable and principled lawyers just as much as, if not more than, anywhere else in the country. I do not know exactly what my career will look like twenty years from now, but I know it will be built on the same discipline my father instilled in me, and I intend to use it well.