Md. Talebur Islam Rupom, interviewed by Quazi Farhina Hassan and Shahriyer Hossain Shetu
My story with ULAB always remains there as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But the difference between these two stories is that ULAB gave me the inspiration to live, discover myself, and reach new heights. My beloved institution brought me out from the suffocation that I had been suffering from, fueled by social stigmas and existential crisis. Here goes my story.
I always felt isolated and disconnected from my surroundings during my school and college time. I was highly introverted and reticent. I felt I was never taken into account or supported by my peers. Whatever I attempted a task, it seemed to be another addition to the ever-growing list of my failures. So I was afraid to even dream of anything that my heart wanted to do. I had a science background in SSC and HSC, but studying the sciences had never been my passion. Yet I had to learn more about it simply because of peer pressure and societal pressure. When I didn’t get a GPA of 5 in my SSC, I was shattered entirely. Perhaps, my peers in school and college left and mocked me as it would seem that I couldn’t be equally prolific and qualified as them to be their friend. I was extremely frustrated and devastated when I thought about my graduate studies. With this mindset, I started the chapter of ULAB, and ended up with poor grades in my first semester.
Nonetheless, this time around, I decided to follow my intuition, stay strong and confident, and make every minute count. Hence, I began to engage myself in extracurricular and leadership activities such as clubs, seminars, and workshops. Guess what? I, finally, started to find myself. From then onwards, my performance in academics alongside extracurricular activities was topnotch. It inspired me to go the extra mile. There is a myth that participation in extracurricular activities has terrible implications for academics. But that turned out to be the opposite, as I achieved a perfect CGPA despite my involvement in high-level non-academic activities and my thirst for enlightenment. I graduated with a 100 percent scholarship over the four years.
Initially, I got out of my comfort zone by working in DEH departmental programs. Since I happened to be the youngest of all, I used to be adored by all, including the incredibly friendly teachers. I’d also worked at ULAB Social Welfare Club and ULAB Sustainable Development Club in the beginning, but I was offered to establish a new club related to Nutrition and Wellness in my third semester and eventually established ULAB NWC and worked there as a founding executive for a year. Fortunately, I was selected for the signature program of BYLC after five competitive selection processes. Funnily enough, ULAB, BYLC, and my home were in different directions. The existing traffic jam of Dhaka and no Uber and Pathao then made things extremely difficult for me. Still, there were 24 hours in a day! I completed my 2.5 monthly course alongside maintaining good grades in academics and the responsibilities of the club. At that time, the schedule of the days was so tight that I used to not take my lunch and breakfast just to make sure I could utilize that eating time in some work and even skipped going to my hometown during semester breaks. I regularly completed my academic tasks while sitting in a bus, rickshaw or CNG, in order to mantain my excellency. Soon after, the dedication and passion led to many invaluable rewards. In my second year at ULAB, I was awarded the UKAID Youth Leadership Prize, a grant of 10,000 US$ for my youth development initiative and its establishment, given jointly by BYLC and UKAID, the Department of Foreign International Development, and The UK government.
Ironically, a small-town boy who was devastated at one point, let persistence and hard work make him the top of the talk and have him featured frequently on the national and international media. Despite the stereotype of being a private university student and having a Linguistic and Literature major, I have done five internships and research assistantships at various renowned national and international institutions such as BRAC UK, BYLC Bengal lights, ULAB etc. I bagged numerous awards both nationally and internationally, such as Global Goodwill Ambassador, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Awards (Bronze, Silver, Gold), I’m Xtraordinary by India, YLP by UKAID, and Indonesian Government Award. I had also taken a step to represent Bangladesh and ULAB in the global arenas in my early third year. Dear friends, the fairy tale will resume in the next episode. The epic is yet to be finished!
There were some moments I felt true pride. Holding the flag of my country at more than six various international programs held in 10 different cities across the world was one such moment. At first, it was the International Youth Forum on Human Rights and UN SDGs,which took place in Kathmandu, Nepal in May 2017. As one of the youngest participants, my eyes filled with tears of happiness and pride while holding my beloved Bangladesh’s flag in the gathering of numberless nationalities. Returning to Bangladesh after the first time I represented Bangladesh at the International Youth Forum on Human Rights and UN SDGs, in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 2017, I was bewildered to see the news of my participation published with my solo picture in mainstream media such as Jugantor and Manabzamin. As someone who had never had the chance to travel inside or outside Bangladesh beforehand, I have since visited five different countries to represent Bangladesh free of cost as I participated in funded/scholarship programs carried out by the organizers or concerned governments and also with the support of ULAB at times.
Immediately after graduation, I went to Indonesia to study cultural diplomacy for nearly four months as I was one of the awardees of the Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship. After returning from there, I flew to join another conference in Chennai, India, where I received the “I am Xtraordinary” medal as the Ambassador for Peace by the Health and Social Welfare Ministry of India and its Minister. I’ve continuously featured in print and electronic media such as Daily Star, New Age, Independent, Observer, KalerKantho, Jugantor, ManabZamin, Bonik Barta, and some more, including global ones. On a personal note, my father had died when I was barely four years old. So, I always dedicate these achievements to my parents and hope that my late father would be able to see his only son from the sky.
The day of my thesis defense is truly memorable to me. I was apprehensive and afraid on that day as my thesis was yet to be approved. On the other hand, I had a conference to attend in Hyderabad, India and its flight at the same noon immediately after defending my thesis. As I was walking, a voice unexpectedly stopped me at the ID checking gate and asked why I was looking so worrisome. I replied with my shaky voice, “I’m so scared today.” She said with utmost respect and confidence, “Don’t worry. I have seen you for the last four years. Nothing wrong will happen. You’ll do superbly well.” Her words were magic and brought the confidence back to me- I thought if she, a person with whom I often conversed to exchange greetings only, had belief in me, then why should I get scared. At my defense, I defended myself to the best of my abilities and then caught my flight timely and went to Hyderabad, India, to represent Bangladesh once again. Even during the entire flight, I felt the effect of those words. I didn’t even know her name at that time, even though we often exchanged greetings. It’s Baby Khala(Auntie), a security guard who had a notable part in defending my thesis. Like Baby Khala(Auntie), most of the admins and associated persons in offices (registrar, communication, accounts, admission, security, library, departmental whatsoever), have always assisted me in their capacities. I am always grateful to them alongside my tremendous and respected teachers of DEH, GED, CSD, CLS, CES, MSJ, BBA and other departments.
It has been more than two years already since I graduated from ULAB. But I can remember every bit of the ULAB journey. Even now, I often contact the ULAB Library to take some facilities for my research and publications. I have published more than 44 articles at reputed international journals and in top English newspapers as op-eds. Besides, the support of my respected teachers who still keep supporting and inspiring me and helping me further become a better version of myself. For example, after graduation, I increased my involvement in publications. Unknowingly, I was making some mistakes with the approach of the presentation. One day I was conversing with Arifa ma’am after a long time and she pointed out the errors and corrected me. It literally saved me from future embarrassment. Another incident includes how Sarwar sir and I had a conversation once, where he consoled me through a truly different phase in my life. It was just a simple conversation, but it was enough to inspire me to overcome my problems. I was not as fortunate to have such great teachers back in my school and college. If I had gotten such ambience and friendliness, I know I would have done better during my teenage years.
Since graduation, I have been working as a development and communications professional, columnist, writer, researcher and entrepreneur and obtaining scholarships for academic higher degrees, thanks to ULAB grooming me. With this, I always try to reach new heights and make our institution proud. I always regarded admission into ULAB as the best possible decision in my life. I am always a proud ULABian and, of course, a super proud DEHian.