Shakeel Dad was born and raised in the Manningham area of Bradford. His parents had grown up amidst grave poverty and turmoil in Kashmir. As a result, they did not attend a single day of school between them and arrived in this country illiterate and unable to speak a word of English.
Despite this, Shakeel went on to achieve outstanding academic success. Between 1997 and 2002 Shakeel attended Belle Vue Boys School in Bradford. Although the school had a history of low achievement, the teachers were fantastic in spotting Shakeel's potential and in 2000 he achieved fantastic GCSE results.
He then went on to study A Levels in English Language, History and Politics. When it came to making choices for university, he had no doubt in his mind that he wanted to go to Oxbridge to follow in the footsteps of some of his role models such as Imran Khan, Benazir Bhutto and (Ali G!), all of whom are Oxbridge graduates.
In 2001 Shakeel was interviewed for, and offered, a place to study law at Cambridge University. After much hard work and support from his family Shakeel achieved three A grades at A Level in 2002, an achievement which was made even more noteworthy by the fact that he scored 100% in several of his examinations.
During his time at Cambridge he was elected as President of the University Pakistan Society, became a governor of Belle Vue Boys School and was asked by the Pakistani High Commission to advise on how to improve the achievements of young Muslims in the UK.
Shakeel graduated in 2005 with BA Honours in Law and went on complete the Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Law School.
Shakeel decided that he wanted to return to Yorkshire to begin his career as a lawyer and wanted a top-class law firm which offered a real opportunity to learn and develop. Walker Morris Solicitors in Leeds was the obvious choice for him.
Shakeel was recently awarded an MA from Cambridge University and, having undertaken a two-year training contract, Shakeel is now a qualified solicitor specialising in Employment Law. His aim is to become one of the country's top solicitors.
"I am honoured to be involved in the b someone campaign. I hope I am an inspiration for the youngsters of Bradford. My story is one of hard work, ambition and an upbringing which left no place for excuses. We can all find reasons which may hold us back, but if you want to be a success then do everything you can to be all you want to be. Life is really is too short for ifs, buts and maybes."
