When Daanyal Ahmed `26 arrived at Grinnell College, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Doha, Qatar, Ahmed came to Iowa after an admissions process shaped by practicality.
Four years later, he said that uncertainty has given way to genuine fulfillment. “I really like when people say these are the best four years of your life,” he said. “I agree with that … [It’s] definitely true.”
Ahmed took a gap year after high school when his first round of applications yielded little financial aid. The second time around, he shifted strategy to focus on liberal arts colleges. Grinnell stood out not due to prestige, but for financial support.
“It was the only reason, honestly,” he said of the financial aid package that ultimately brought him to Iowa. But over his time at Grinnell, that initial doubt about expectations disappeared.
Ahmed came to Grinnell as an intended economics major and will be graduating as one, though his academic path was not linear. His overall experience with Grinnell, he said, is a 9.5 out of 10 — a near-perfect score tempered by frustrations with credit transfers after studying abroad in the United Kingdom under the IES Abroad program.
Ahmed said some course credits he earned abroad did not count towards his economics major. Because of that he was not able to take many other classes. He is one class away from a statistics concentration and two classes away from an anthropology major.
Despite the difficulties, Ahmed found intellectual grounding in economics. He said ECN-378: Seminar in Law & Economics with Professor Bradley Graham was his favorite class, alongside ECN-280: Microeconomic Analysis with Professor Tamara McGavock.
If there is one space that defines Ahmed’s time at Grinnell, it is the Pakistani Student Organization (PSO). “When I first got here, there was no Pakistani Student Organization,” he said.
While the organization existed on paper, Ahmed said its early days were fragmented. It wasn’t until the spring semester of his first year that Pakistani students gathered to form what he now considers a tight-knit community.
“That was my first time talking to them,” he said. “It’s such a small school … not knowing other people from your own country is pretty insane. From second year, we started hanging out more. Me, Arsal, MK, Faheem and Filza would hang out in the HSSC late at night. Instead of studying, we’d just be doing random stuff. We’d have chair racing in the JRC where we took out chairs and raced on them.”
From there, PSO evolved into a deeply consistent support system consisting of shared meals and a growing sense of belonging.
“I think there is no one favorite memory,” Ahmed said of his time with PSO. “Just late-night hangouts, talking. Every single day, we’d just be talking.”
That sense of everyday community is what he expects to miss most after graduation. Over time, PSO expanded its presence on campus, including organizing the 2025 Eid Fest locally rather than traveling to Chicago as in previous years. The shift, Ahmed said, reflected a growing Muslim population at Grinnell.
“Before, Jummah prayer would have three or four people,” he said. “Now, especially during Ramadan, we would have up to 30 people together.”
Ahmed’s involvement extended beyond PSO to the South Asian Student Association (SASO), where he served as treasurer during his second year.
That role coincided with restrictions from the Student Government Association (SGA) on off-campus events hosted by student organizations, which he said altered the atmosphere of student gatherings.
“You cannot have the same sort of vibe on campus as you do off campus,” he said. “A house like 1008 High Street gives that homey feeling when you’re just surrounded by South Asians.”
Even so, Ahmed remained deeply engaged in campus life, though perhaps not in the way he expected when he first arrived. One of his most unexpected contributions came not through student organizations or academics, but through food. After discovering a recipe online, Ahmed decided to make butter chicken mac and cheese for Food Bazaar 2025, scaling it up to serve dozens of people.
“I didn’t want to spend my own money, so I was like, ‘This is perfect for Food Bazaar,’” he said.
After the event, dining staff asked him to recreate the dish in the kitchen. Months later, it was selected for the dining hall menu.
“They liked it and said, ‘Okay, we’re serving this on the menu next fall,’” he said. “I saw it on the big TV they have in d-hall. I was like, ‘There’s no way. They have a photo of me.”
Looking back, Ahmed said his goals entering college were simple — get good grades, secure a job and have fun. Two out of three, he said, are complete.
“I think I’ve managed to do that,” he said of his first goal. “And yeah, I had fun.”
Post-graduation, Ahmed plans to attend Vanderbilt University for a master’s degree in finance, with aspirations of entering investment banking.
