It all started on a clear fall afternoon of Fall 1993. I clearly remember browsing through the Student Organizations Handbook looking for a listing of a student organization for Bangladeshis. I was delighted to find that an organization by the name of Bangladesh Student Association (BSA) was listed with a note indicating that the charter was pending approval by the Student Government Association. It was then and there that I made a resolution to help complete the chartering process of this BSA–a club that was meant to provide souls like me a home away from home.
My initial involvement with BSA started out as a member. A quarter later, I opted to fill in the vacant office of the General Secretary. 1993/94 was a turbulent year for BSA as it transitioned from an unchartered club to an association with total recognition by the Student Government Association of the Georgia Institute of Technology. This is was a first for Bangladeshi students in the Atlanta area.
Fall 1994 necessitated the need for a new president for the BSA. The general consensus was that someone with lot of energy and enthusiasm lead this baby BSA. I agreed to fill in. Had I then realized what I had talked myself into, I would have given my decision some serious thought. Our work was cut out for us. It was BSA’s first year as a chartered club. Gone were the quarters when we could just hang out and have fun. Being a chartered club brought with it bags full of responsibilities. My objective was to establish BSA as a fully functional club while concurrently scheduling social activities. The decisions we made that year and the road we took then started a process that was quite critical to the smooth functioning of BSA for the years to follow. How we have done–only time will tell.
Now that I look back and recall the past 5 years of BSA, I can honestly state that we have done damn well. Our officers have put in dedicated quarters and our members and alumni have ensured that we succeed as a club. Today, the GT BSA serves as a warm shelter for the GT Bangladeshi community and their friends. It has taken the initiative to educate the Georgia Tech community on what it means to be a Bangladeshi. Finally, it prepares us to cope with the cold winters of academics, work, and life after college. A sense of belonging prevails in this club. As long as we continue to think as one, we shall succeed in what we have pledged to accomplish.
JOY BANGLA!!!!!
I have been asked why I joined the Georgia Tech Bangladesh Student Association. That is an easy and straightforward one. Why I remained with the BSA is a far more interesting question.
Let us start, nonetheless, with why I joined. Simple unadulterated self-interest - that is the answer! I needed the BSA: to help me find an apartment within walking distance of campus, to provide me with advice on what classes NOT to take my first quarter, to help set up my email, to provide companionship when I got homesick, to provide transportation when I needed groceries, to provide alternative meals when I got sick of my own cooking!
All this is very well while you are trying to acquaint yourself to a new system, and although these are indeed great “services”, these are not reasons why you should stay with a group. After all, what could they possibly offer now that any other student organization could not offer? The answer is an eclectic group of people who have created a unique blend. I should know… I have been a member of so many campus organizations that I have since had to drop some of them - not enough time!
I think that it is the sense of family that keeps me in the fold. Somehow, it is this sense of nurture that sets BSA apart. Georgia Tech gets extremely competitive at times, but the BSA actually wants you to succeed. It was this feeling that I wanted to give back to our members when I became president. Serving as president has given me an opportunity to take the organization in new directions, and personally, to grow and learn valuable skills that would take years to acquire in the workplace. I have received so much from the organization that I must leave you with a quote from John Kennedy:
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask instead what you can do for your country.”
I am proud to have served the Georgia Tech Bangladesh Student Association, and wish it all the best.
First of all, I worked for the BSA simply because it represented my mother country. It represents my ancestors and friends. Another words, The BSA represents my roots to a foreign land. Second reason that I worked for the BSA is that it is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious organization. The BSA at Georgia Tech represents people of Bangladesh in an objective way. This is why I worked for the BSA.
This BSA enabled me to grow my personality as an engineer and as a friend. Through the BSA, I made many friends from all over the world. I think college is not just for education but also for creation of network of friends from many fields of study and BSA made this possible for me. As far as engineering is concerned, BSA has made me a better organizer, interactor, presenter and speaker, all of which is very crucial in order to be a good engineer.
Today, the BSA acts like a home away from home for many students. I know what this really means as I have graduated and is about to go into the industry. I am already missing the environment, camaraderie, and bond that BSA had created at Georgia Tech. I think BSA is doing very well under the current leadership.
Ever since BSA was established, it has overcome all obstacles that it had faced and I am confident that it will continue to do so in the future. Its best years are yet to come!
BSA is a dream. It is a kindling flame of vision carried by giants like Raihan Khan, Ashikur Rahman, and Minarul Delwar. Their dream was to see this group do great things someday. From a small family of friends, it would grow to be an organization; and from that an institution of brotherhood and friendship overwhelming and surpassing Georgia Tech and Bangali community in Atlanta.
I embraced that dream when I decided to take the office of Presidency. It was not an easy dream to share. BSA challenged me to rise above myself and be better than I ever thought I could be. Leadership, integrity, perseverance and intelligence were challenged at every step. Meanwhile I had a growing BSA with newer responsibilities. The baby BSA was a toddler now. With growth came needs of infrastructure and financial stability building. My officers were overrun with work. While the growth of BSA was a requirement, things that older presidents had were being lost.
The alums started to graduate and leave GT and BSA. BSA stopped having an unbreakable tie with its members, because the member body got bigger. It was almost time to wake up and smell the coffee. The dream was being lost.
Amidst all this, I had a lot of help from past presidents, who helped me make connections with the alums. We made an active BSA member list, of people who wanted to be with BSA. And we literally went door to door reestablishing old ties and regenerating relationships. BSA had its first web site, that told the history of BSA. Even today, I hear, people contact BSA using that first web-site. We went to Bangladesh and brought in “home-made” T-shirts with BSA logo on them to be sold on campus. And we sold every last one of them. We made tons of money (relatively speaking). We won the Best Student Organization award from SGA that year.
My message to future BSA students would be the following.
Any dream worth having is not easy to come by. There will be times when it might seem that the price paid is too much. But, in the end, when we see the results; our hard work becomes part of a good memory.
Someday, we will have scholarship programs; and have trust funds to bring in more students from our part of the world. We will build our own BSA house. We will have a fully functional institution for Bangali Students at Georgia Tech. The dream does not die. It just grows bigger.
The birth of Bangladesh is due to the language, but the price we paid with blood was immense. The culture that followed after the independence has more in its foundation than the language itself. It is this culture that we thrive to support as we support the other members of Bangladesh Student Association (BSA). Along with such support comes the promotion of bangali culture for others to appreciate (if not learn).
My introduction to BSA was more an accident rather than an invitation, unlike my presidency. When I first set foot in Georgia Tech, I almost believed that no student bangali community existed. Till this day, I hold no regrets for that accident, as BSA unraveled a bangali kindred. During my first social gathering with BSA in Summer 2000, I realized that I need BSA to find my ‘home away from home’, yet the terrible purpose which led me to Georgia Tech did not escape me.
As a member, I tried to just attend the gatherings and only help during certain times. It was not until I held an office that I realized that the help the officers received during those certain times were in fact the only help they received at times. During my presidency, I was enlightened by previous presidents about the golden days of BSA. The visions led me to restructure BSA, to get sucked up by a tornado instead of being sucked down by the hurricane. I tried my time and I have yet to know its results.
Human beings are prone to error, but as Issac Asimov elegantly portrays in The End of Eternity, sometimes perfection can withheld from us the greater good. However, one should be reminded that the mistakes are only useful when the lesson has been learnt from it. And learn I did; along with the rewards accumulated during my involvement. Whether BSA has gained in my involvement is yet to be unearthed.
“I have a dream” and this dream is shared by many who held office before me. We dream that one day BSA will go beyond its golden early years (that I always heard about). With alums backing up the officers who define the future of the club, the results should be mind-blowing. The future we dream might be beyond you and me, but the fruits of that future will amaze all around them and bring forth questions about the foundation of BSA itself.