Help Pakistan's Youngest Olympiad Champion go to Harvard

I'm Hassan, an educator and former Olympiad champion from Pakistan, raising funds to attend Harvard. After overcoming personal and financial hardships to build an education platform that’s reached over 1,000 students, I’ve been admitted to Harvard’s Masters in Education program. I need your support to close the funding gap and bring world-class learning tools back to underserved students who need it the most. Your help will not just change my life — it will ripple across thousands more.

Where the spark began

One monsoon night we lost power. Sitting under a flickering kerosene lamp, I twisted a borrowed Rubik’s Cube until—click—all six colours lined up. Under dim light I realised something brilliant: patterns, not privilege, unlock possibility.

By 15 I had become the youngest student ever to represent Pakistan at the International Mathematical Olympiad, an honour I would repeat three times. Those competitions taught me that curiosity & persistence can outshine circumstance.

But brilliance met reality when I was 21: halfway through a Physics degree at Middle East Technical University in Turkey, my father disappeared. Overnight I became the sole provider. I suddenly found my mother, middle-school sister, and younger brother (then a university freshman) turning to me for support. Tuition bills, rent and groceries drowned out quantum mechanics lectures; I left Turkey and flew home, determined that my siblings would not have to make the same sacrifice.

Turning adversity into opportunity

I saw a gap: talented students preparing for academic Olympiads had no access to affordable, high-quality coaching. So, from my childhood bedroom I launched HSN Academy, an online platform that blends puzzle-based learning with rigorous problem-solving drills.

In just three years, HSN Academy has reached over 1,000 students — many of whom have gone on to compete nationally and secure top university scholarships. And we’ve done this with zero marketing — only word of mouth.

Profits keep my family afloat and underwrite scholarships for low-income learners.

Wanting to bring that impact home, I partnered with City Star School to run a free after-school club. Through chess, logic games, and beginner-friendly coding puzzles, we worked with students who struggled to add two-digit numbers. In just one year, their problem-solving scores rose by 25%.

Each success posed a bigger question: What if every under-resourced classroom had these tools?

This grassroots work caught the attention of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I’ve been admitted to the Master’s in Learning Design, Innovation & Technology (LDIT)—a programme that will let me weave AI, gamification and evidence-based pedagogy into scalable curricula for low-income classrooms and equip me to take this work on a national scale. When the Harvard offered me a seat, it felt less like a personal victory and more like the unveiling of a launchpad.

The total cost of attendance at ᠎Harvard Graduate School of Education for 2025-26 is 102,000 USD. So far I have worked hard to secure:

16,000 USD in Grants from Harvard.

25,000 USD in Educational Loans.

36,000 USD as the Sum Total of my Life Savings.

That still leaves a funding gap of 25,000 USD (about 35,000 CAD), and I am reaching out to ask for your support in helping me close it.

Without your support, I may have to forfeit this offer — and with it, the chance to bring world-class tools, mentorship, and hope to the students who need them most. I’ve already pressed pause on my dreams once so my family wouldn’t have to. Now I’m asking - not just for help, but for the chance to finally choose growth.

Because your gift doesn't just send one student to Harvard. It brings that knowledge home. It helps us build a world where brilliance isn’t a privilege — it’s a promise.

How you can support

1. Donate - no amount is too small.

2. Share this page with three people who believe education breaks cycles of poverty.

From a kerosene-lit corner in Punjab, to the halls of the International Math Olympiad, and now to Harvard, this journey has never been mine alone.

It’s been lit, step by step, by the community.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for believing. And thank you for helping me turn the next Rubik’s Cube moment into a movement.

With gratitude,

Hassan

Please find my Harvard acceptance letter below.

- My linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hssnahmd/

Important note about how the funds are being handled:

This fundraiser is being organized by my uncle, Muhammad, who lives in Canada. Since GoFundMe does not currently support withdrawals in Pakistan, he is helping me by collecting the funds on my behalf. Muhammad is a trusted family member, and once the funds are withdrawn in Canada, he will transfer 100% of the amount directly to me in Pakistan. Every dollar raised will go toward covering my cost of attendance at Harvard.