Author’s Intro

Intro/Attention-getter: I was born in Bangladesh and spent the last fifteen years of my life living

in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. I moved to the U.S. in the summer of 2016, and when I

started to attend Manara Leadership Academy, it was the first time I had ever changed of school.

School era: When I was two-and-a-half years old, I got admitted into school. This was deemed

impressive as the school did not allow admission, for most students, until the age of four. My

admittance was based on my strong academic knowledge. Thus, started what I refer to as “The

Period of Mental Torture.” In the beginning, school was very easy. We played most of the time

during our Pre-K years. When I started first grade, studies became very hard. In our country, the

curriculum is more rigorous, and we were forced to memorize verbatim what the teacher taught

us. I remember when I was in sixth grade, I memorized about 100 pages of the history book in

one night. We started studying Arithmetic, Geometry and Algebra in fifth grade and by sixth

grade, we were studying Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Hobbies/loves/sports: Due to a great love for being active, in third grade I joined the school’s

handball team - the only sport which was offered then. After a year of comfortably playing

handball, I started practicing to join the school’s cricket team. It took me four years to get into

the main team. When I was five-year-old, I started playing what would become my most beloved

sport, cricket. My friends and I played every day, for almost two hours, in the yard of our house.

We faced the common problem that every kid in south east Asia faces if they are playing cricket:

listening to the scolding of our family & neighbors. They scolded us because we broke countless

windows, tossed and hit balls onto their roofs, and made a good amount of noise; but it was well

worth it. After cricket, I started badminton and then went on playing volleyball.

In 2012, our application for immigration to the USA got approved and my father decided to
simply visit the country first, in 2013. It was a great visit for him, and he made us visit it too in

June of 2013, for about three months. We enjoyed our time, especially as it felt relaxing not

having to study anything. We went back to Bangladesh after this and came back again in 2015.

My father was slowly changing his mind; he finally decided he wanted us to move to the U.S.

The United States of America were alien words to me, but my father’s decision made of the

USA one of the biggest obstacles of my life. I could not sleep at night wondering how I could

live in such a foreign place, without my family and friends.

In 2016, leaving my family members, all my friends, my loved ones, we moved to the U.S.

We were living with my aunt and grandmother in Bangladesh, who also came with us, but they

were going to return to Bangladesh. We moved in June, and when my father, my aunt and my

grandmother left for Bangladesh during August, I was very upset. During the first two weeks of

school, I was not able to concentrate on anything. My mind was filled with thoughts of

Bangladesh, my father, my aunt, and my grandmother. I also did not speak English either well

nor often, so communicating was another large obstacle I had to overcome. However, as days

passed, I slowly became accustomed to my new environment. I had a great guider beside me,

Mrs. Brantley, who introduced me to, what personally was, a new education system. I was used

to a stricter environment, meaning that students were not allowed to interact with teachers much,

and we were forced to study like robots. When I first met the students, I was shocked by their

behavior, the way they talked and all the things they did in class. Due to the unfamiliar

environment and interactions, I could not focus in the classroom at all. I slowly learned to be

more tolerant, and I ended up accepting the fact that I had to be with them for the rest of the year.

I was then able to focus in class and I paid more attention to my studies. I am now going to

present you the different sections where I have been able to grow as a scholar and as a person.