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When a lot of people think about college, they picture someplace far off. Yet sometimes, the answer is right around the corner. That’s what Danish Humayun found when he chose to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst even though he comes from one town over in Belchertown. Despite being mere minutes away from home, he will still tell you he’s had quite the adventure in college.

Danish comes from a real UMass family since both his older sisters are alumni. Their positive experiences inspired him to take the same path. At first he was conflicted, primarily because campus was so close to home, but he ended up loving this proximity to family. He reflected on how “I can just go home whenever I want. I can see them whenever I want. Sometimes, they’ll come to campus and just grab food with me. So it's pretty nice. I enjoy it.” In his early years at UMass, he loved showing his new friends around the area, too.

Despite his ability to go home at a moment’s notice, Danish has carved out a busy life for himself on campus. He has majors in public health and economics along with a minor in biology. He devised this busy schedule for himself with the goal of one day practicing medicine, which he's been interested in since high school. However, he picked up the economics major once he was already a Minuteman. It emerged from an interest in public policy and a strong background in math and data visualization.

Outside of classes, Danish stays occupied with an array of extracurricular activities. One of the first clubs he joined was the Pakistani Students Organization (PSO) as a freshman representative. He used it to connect with students with similar values to himself and make close friendships. As a senior, he now serves as club president, growing the organization and forming those same connections for underclassmen. Work with the PSO also brought him into the fold of the UMass Muslim Students Association, where he made even more great friendships. Looking back, he says, “MSA, PSO, joining a club freshman year really opened like the door just for me to meet a lot of people.”

After graduation, Danish will continue his time at UMass with the 4+1 accelerated master's degree. This allows him to move forward in his future career faster by beginning some of his master's coursework as an undergrad. He was so confident in this decision because "I've really enjoyed my time here, and it didn't hurt me to stay an extra year. The faculty that I take classes with for my 4+1 are all professors I've worked with previously, so I'm really familiar with them." With this unprecedented level of comfort, it’s safe to say that Danish found his home (not too far) away from home.