What 2025 taught team Dawn.com
The last day of the year is a time to be thankful for surviving another 365 days and celebrating fresh beginnings. It’s also a time to reflect and take stock of everything the last year taught us.
In that spirit, we went around the office and asked everyone what they learnt this year, so here’s what 2025 taught team Dawn.com
Rida Lodhi — Social Media Editor
What I learnt this year was how to report news credibly and how to stay away from misinformation and disinformation. How to not be first to break the news but be the ones with credible sources and the ones who have done their homework before breaking anything. Another thing I learnt was that I suck at budgets…
Siham Basir — Images Editor
This year, I learnt that overconsumption is killing us. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I learned more about overconsumption and its impact on both the planet and our homes. From buying food to clothes or anything else, we’re killing the planet with our desire to purchase everything new. I also learnt that despite my usual shopaholic tendencies, I am fully capable of being mindful in my consumption, so hopefully that will be carried forward into the new year.
Sarah B. Haider — News Editor
At the end of last year, I lost hearing in one ear due to a condition known as sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The first couple of months were difficult and disheartening, but over time, I learnt how to adapt to my partial disability.
The experience also reshaped the way I view my body and my health. Now, I am more aware of how easily we take a functioning body for granted. I no longer see my condition as something tragic, but as a new challenge that I have learnt to live with.
Zain Siddiqui — Editor, Dawn.com
Life’s hard. It usually doesn’t go the way you want it to, which is why it’s important to be passionate about something you do and go all-in. If you don’t have a passion, find one. It’s important to have something that keeps you tethered while life rages around you.
Mariam Javid — Interactive Producer
Life is not a race. The right opportunity will come at the right time. Everyone has their own unique timeline.
Syed Talal Ahsan — Senior Sub-editor
The value of clear and decisive leadership.
Mikail Ahmed Sheikh — Senior Sub-editor
If I had to pick something that I learnt this past year, it’s the importance of having self-confidence. Just having that tiny little bit of faith in yourself and your abilities not only makes you better at what you’re doing but also shows you how capable you can truly be.
I had several instances where I had low confidence in myself, especially during the war. We were making up our own rules, but having that tiny little bit of faith just showed me that, yeah, I can do it and I can help us make our coverage amazing.
Asfa Sultan — Senior Sub-editor
2025 was a year full of lessons.
- Don’t go to a Coldplay concert and get caught on the kiss cam if you’re cheating on your spouse. Actually — let’s simplify — don’t cheat on your spouse. Ever. Not even for ‘Fix You’.
- Don’t try to save face by suddenly discovering your moral compass after months of silence, especially when it comes to a genocide that’s been unfolding in real time. Condemn violence from the start, not when it becomes convenient or trendy.
Growth is real, embarrassment is forever.
Yumna Khan — KAS Fellow
I learnt a bit too much about the Constitution in 2025.
Zil E Huma — KAS Fellow
I learnt that celebrities actually wear wigs to red carpets.
Fatima Sheikh — Sub-editor
A major lesson I learnt this year is that I can’t control what others think, say, or do — and I shouldn’t try to. The urge to control others leads to stress, overthinking, and disappointment. The only person I can truly control is myself — and accepting this simple truth relieves me of up to 90 per cent of the stress I carry daily.
Ali Akber — Sub-editor
The year 2025 has been a year of some very powerful reality checks with regards to journalism. What it looks like from the outside is very different to how complex it is on the inside. It is not just writing, but crafting, and it’s not just reporting, but mastering. You can be an idealist like me, but journalism calls for something more functional, real and sound.
Shifa — Sub-editor
My biggest takeaway from this year was realising that I don’t need to have everything figured out. There is always going to be a modicum of uncertainty in life and I’d like to make my peace with that.
Nazish Talati — Sub-editor
I think the thing I learnt this year that I’m going to use the most is that I got over my fear of the blank page. I learnt to just start writing instead of agonising over a blank document for ages, and I think that’s going to help me a lot in and out of the newsroom, in pretty much everything I do.
Hamza Azeem — Sub-editor
This year I learnt that you miss every shot you don’t take. In life, I’ve always feared, “What if something doesn’t go my way?” I’m going to do a little less of that next year.
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