Shaping the Future: The Impact of Studying Abroad

Studying abroad has become an increasingly popular option for students worldwide, and Bangladeshi students are no exception. The opportunity to pursue education in a foreign country offers numerous advantages that can significantly impact the future of Bangladeshi students in profound ways. From academic enrichment to personal growth and professional development, here’s how studying abroad can shape the future of a Bangladeshi student:

Academic Excellence

One of the primary motivations for Bangladeshi students to study abroad is access to world- class education. Institutions in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and others offer a diverse range of academic programs, cutting-edge research
facilities, and renowned faculty members. By studying in such institutions, Bangladeshi students can gain exposure to innovative teaching methodologies, interdisciplinary approaches, and the latest advancements in their fields of study.

Global Perspective

Studying abroad provides Bangladeshi students with a global perspective that goes beyond textbooks and classrooms. Living and learning in a foreign country exposes them to different cultures, languages, and ways of thinking. They develop cultural competence, empathy, and an
appreciation for diversity, which are essential qualities in today’s interconnected world. This global outlook not only enriches their personal lives but also prepares them to become global citizens and leaders in their respective fields.

Language Proficiency

Many Bangladeshi students choose to study in English-speaking countries to improve their English language skills. Immersion in an English-speaking environment accelerates language learning, leading to greater proficiency and fluency. Strong English language skills enhance communication abilities, academic performance, and career prospects, as English is widely used in academia, business, and international relations.

Career Advancement

Studying abroad can significantly enhance the career prospects of Bangladeshi students. International experience is highly valued by employers, demonstrating adaptability, cross- cultural communication skills, and a global mindset. Graduates with study abroad experience often have a competitive edge in the job market, especially in multinational corporations, international organizations, and industries with global operations. Additionally, studying abroad may open doors to networking opportunities, internships, and job placements abroad or in
Bangladesh.

Personal Growth

Living independently in a foreign country challenges Bangladeshi students to step out of their comfort zones and become more self-reliant, resilient, and adaptable. They learn to navigate unfamiliar environments, overcome cultural barriers, and solve problems creatively. These experiences foster personal growth, confidence, and maturity, shaping them into well-rounded individuals capable of thriving in diverse settings.

Cultural Exchange

Studying abroad facilitates cultural exchange between Bangladeshi students and their peers from around the world. They have the opportunity to share their own culture, traditions, and perspectives while learning about others. This intercultural exchange fosters mutual understanding, tolerance, and friendship, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges between nations.

In conclusion, studying abroad holds immense potential to shape the future of Bangladeshi students in profound ways. From academic excellence and global perspective to language proficiency and career advancement, the benefits of studying abroad are multifaceted and far- reaching. By embracing the opportunities offered by international education, Bangladeshi students can broaden their horizons, unlock their potential, and contribute positively to a diverse and interconnected world.

Since childhood, we all hear that once we are done with our HSC or A-Levels equivalent with a good grade, everything else will just falls into place. Then, reality hits, and you are rushed to quickly get admitted in a university preferably public funded or perhaps how about getting a study abroad in your dream subject at a world-ranked university? become an international citizen, make the world your oyster. Did you just realize something? your life has just begun. Perhaps, you might think again, once you get through your Bachelors, basically you are saying goodbye to your academic life and welcome in a work life. Right? Wrong.

The Infinite loop of Education is something that stays with you for the rest of your life, comes in different forms and skill shapes, but never seizes, as if it does, so would you. This is what keeps your brain cells alive and makes sure you remain worthy for today’s world. So, keep learning, whatever and whenever you can and keep aspiring for more, every day.

Did you ever think that reading a book could make you escape reality sometimes? Or perhaps a book is a signature of millions of energy waves directly from the author’s mind? Let me elaborate more. An author writing a book is sharing his/her knowledge of this world that he or she have gained by spending numerous hours in honing the knowledge, while writing he is giving it away to you for free and that’s actually not all, an author is also putting in his/her energy in bringing all the thoughts and experiences and imaginations to entice yours. That itself is a experience we should be able to cherish. Education does not only mean getting yourself a degree, educating yourself could be as simple as a book for the dummies. Something you never tried before. A world, that induces you with its magic of words, and the play of an author’s mind. Let’s you escape but once you are ready to be found back, you arrive a little bit more know-ledged.

You must have heard about the glorious Silicon Valley located in North California. How about the Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City? A nation that is as big as a continent itself, the red, blue and white stripes has always welcomed students from across the world; and let them call it home.

More than 8,000 Bangladeshi students made it to the United States in the 2020/2021 intakes alone. (Source: US Embassy) That is surely a whopping number if you consider the fact that we were deep in pandemic and borders were severely restricted. That itself clearly shows the ability of a country to work head over heels to continue strong pipeline of students even for a country like ours, where the visa ratio dwindles and many rejections forces academics to re-apply in numbers every year.

United States have always been in the forefront for the newest programs for all tertiary educations. The country undoubtedly has the biggest budget to finance research and development among all, thus research masters for many STEM subject aspirants has always been high in demand. Functional processes to incorporate students who have just received their graduation certificates into a healthy work life; US government issues near thousand OPT permits for all international students allowing them to work in their field of study, get highly paid by companies and to be part of their research teams. Welcome to the Silicon Valley or the Walls Street or the New York Broadway where countless dreams are being fulfilled, every day.
US scholarships have had profound impact on many Bangladeshi students who finally made it big. These bursaries have been provided through state government or alumni funds pivoted by both public and private universities to ease the burden of significant tuition fees that are demanded from the international students in order to provide the absolute class act in educational facilities. No short cuts there. Thus, this country easily becomes a THOR of a destination for study abroad aspirants across the globe. International education really takes a whole new meaning in this part of the world.
So my entreaty to my readers today is that, if you are considering a higher degree abroad and if you really feel that you deserve the best the world has to offer, then have a go at the US universities and colleges. Let me assure you, your next 5 years can change your life.

The event will be organised by Eduko Pathways Bangladesh where students and parents will be able to join in and directly speak to the Australian university representatives and discuss essential study abroad opportunities like program/course options, visa, travel and accommodation options, scholarships, educational expenses and cost of living, financing as well as medical insurance options.

The University of Sydney, University of Western Australia, La Trobe, Macquarie, RMIT, Deakin and other big guns in the Australian education industry will be participating during the 2-hour event and is expected to launch application for meritorious Bangladeshi students for both Undergraduate (4 years) and Post-graduate (2 years) programs on the event day itself.

With latest positive revisions of post-study work rights and other benefits for international students offered by the Australian government. Click on this link https://cutt.ly/4E5UdZ6 to sign up and Eduko Pathways team to reach you and get you registered for this year’s most important online education fair of Australian universities.

How long have you been an international student? What are you plans now? Will you
graduate soon or do you still have 2-3 years to go. Most importantly, how are you
adjusting to your new current life abroad?

The first year of any education abroad seems to be a goliath maze. Classes, part-time
jobs, new social circles, calls from back home and other life essential chores like
laundry and paying the electricity bills all adds up pretty quick and makes you a mouse
on a wheel. Keep doing it, don’t think much and please never miss home much.

The second-year eases you into this new paradigm, when even a metro bus ride to your
university is met with foreign friendly faces that know you, life starts getting easier and
so does your conception of living in a foreign country. Studying abroad is surely a
daunting task for many and yet there is no proper counselling service for the
international students. By far, adjusting to a new life and simultaneously taking on the
heavy weights of education itself may be at times too much on the plate for many. Yet
there is no community or similar AA group associated to help ease the transition of
international students let alone aid in finding resources to make life easier.

It is the university student communities that will help ease this journey of yours “far from
home”, so never deprioritize it. Social clubs like debating, toastmaster are all great
avenues to meet smart people from across the world and build valuable life-long
connections. Sports clubs like football, table tennis, basketball or baseball are all
fantastic teams to show your mettle as an athlete, if you possess it that is. If not, never
fret, university/college newspaper or PR team are good points to drop your CV.

Be in something worthwhile beside studies. It should not be only part-time jobs, enjoy
the diversity of so many races, see how far you can climb up the tree. People always
love individuals who have multi-talents, and what better place to showcase your hidden
powers then in a world stage. Remember, with great power comes greater
responsibilities. Being in community services like churches, volunteer work as
Salvationists opens new connections, where you get to meet the locals and form
meaningful bonds.

Being far from home is always difficult, taking up new challenges can sometimes feel
overwhelming, but be rest assured there are silver linings to these hurdles, a lesson that
will help you grow as a human being. I leave my readers, with a bit of lyrics that I fondly
grew up listening to, “Life is a lesson, you only learn it when your through”. So keep that
drum rolling and best of luck.

The first thing you notice as you walk out of the Kennedy International Airport, is
the cool winter air that welcomes you. Any time else then mid-July, Queens is
sure to be much cooler than Dhaka. You will get to see a massive US flag slowly
moving in a grand gesture of red, white and blue. I sometimes feel, even the flag
knows, how important this country is to us students, from across the world we
float in for better education, better career, better pay and in most times, a fresh
new shot at life. For those brief moments, you may feel “you are unstoppable
today”. Listen to Sia, believe in her, at the end, you are what you think you are.

United States is a curious case of ups and downs, it builds you and most often it
breaks you at first. Its like a sea which has the enormity to take you at will in any
direction even if you have your sails set affirm. Most students who settle in the
west coast or the east coast of this great land have their own stories, their own
interpretation of how they coped and how they went on to reach the stars.

Today I leave you all hoping to write your own version of the Uncle Sam story with
four, fantastic advices, that may just help you be the coolest new fish in that sea.

Advice No. 1: Get yourself a debit card within the first week of your stay. Once
your classes start for the intake, other international students will worship you for
a chance to use it and buy the moodle like university portal licenses required for
the semester. On the other side, it also does help to get those amazon purchases
done in a jiffy too.

Advice No. 2: Get yourself a second-hand car as soon as you can. Trust me, it will
cost you less than 3000 dollars most times; this eases your life as buses are very

much routine but the weather ain’t so. You don’t want to freeze during the long
winters waiting for 15 mins to catch the next in line. Your peers will treat you
better and you won’t miss the invitations of those long summer break trips,
popular kids only. This is how you network, this is how you create memories for
yourself.

Advice No. 3: Try to be a leader in your class. If you are an introvert by nature, try
to fake it till you make it. There is no time for the world to find out what you are
good at, show them and you will be accepted well. Your diversity is already a plus
point, everyone wants to make friends from different races just to feel special and
important themselves, in the US, this is more true than anywhere else. So, make
friends, speak out, be the one who takes up action and a real fun to be with.

Advice No. 4: Regardless, whether you are planning to do your Bachelors or
Masters in the States, knowing your professors and establishing a solid rapport
will take you a long way and give you those lucky breaks.
Usually, professors are much more friendly and welcoming in the US than in our
own country. The reason might be because our culture allow teachers to be more
of a master than a collaborator, more rigid respect than friendly outcomes. Use
this well. Try to help professors with their projects and be sure when you
graduate, they will introduce you with opportunities that will give you your first
break. The rest is up to you.
Being an alumnus of an US state university, I went through most of it, with an
openness in mind to be inspired, surprised or downright abjugated from any of
my previous beliefs, it worked out fine for me and I’m sure it will be amazing for
you too, just sometimes I feel, If I knew some of these hacks myself before, it
would have been just fantastic!. Get what I mean?

Consider the current year, after all the economic recessions, the sanctions, the pandemic, the borders
closures, the vaccines, after all that, we are here, in 2022, alive, getting out feet wet again in the glorious
sphere of having a new shot at life.

Studying abroad is all that, a new shot at life, an inclusion of everything you wanted to do and
everything you ever achieved, some travel a thousand miles just to learn anew, most want to leave their
old paradigm in search of a fresh start. “I want to settle there, once I finish my education” is the call of
this generation. A call that is being well answered by some fantastic institutions from across the world.
You have scholarships that are only available for the international students, now tuition bursaries are
significantly waived for the meritorious ones, you have a league of new programs being offered in the
most amazing areas of research, think about AI or biotechnology for a change, how are they going to
shape our world by the next decade? Bangladeshi kids who used to think themselves part of a recent
Weebo cult now decided to study aeronautical engineering for a change. They are brilliant no doubt,
and they are constantly and easily reaching newer heights in their chosen path setting themselves up for
careers with big giants like Google, IBM, Testla, Boston Consulting Group or even NASA. As if anything
and everything is now possible. Here we are in 2022, after all the drama and all the mistakes, students,
children of our country wanting to start a new.

Is it wrong to do so? To think your talent, your aspirations, or your hard work is more valued elsewhere?
You would probably never want to leave behind your life here but you equally want to test your own
abilities and how far you can go. Is it wrong to find out? In this gigantic multiverse of opportunities, that
everything you think is enough is nearly not so, and there is much that could happen to you. So much
more you could do for yourself. Statistics shows, nearly 50,000 students from Bangladesh are travelling
abroad to study every year. 50,000! Yes, and even in the midst of the thickest pandemic, more 100K
students registered, paid their fees and got admission online with universities across Australia to New
Zealand, Canada to USA, China to Europe. They all got admitted and continued online with the hopes
that once things come back to normal, they would get preference in visa in their respective destination
of study. In 2021 and 2022 alone, the visa issuance rate of North America and also Europe in general
shot up sky high, perhaps to compensate for the years lost in the middle or perhaps returning the good
faith shown by the students by the immigration authorities for investing in their education industry at a
time most needed.

Good news is 2022 and 2023 will be the years of all on-ground classes, no more online classes and
definitely no more hybrid models that lecturers and faculties of universities so fondly moderated over
these past 2 or 3 years. Let me leave my readers with a decision, when are you joining the wagon of
multiverse opportunities, when will you for a certain feel that perhaps you are missing out a few
valuable years of life betterment, it may come in the form of a world-class education degree or a scope
to research your aces. Whatever may the purpose be, let’s all pray things go uphill from here and our
students keep shinning across the world, announcing our presence in the world.

On July 22, Eduko Pathways Bangladesh hosted their first-ever mega education expo held at The Westin Dhaka under the title “Eduko International Education Summit- EIES 2022”. The event saw the participation of more than 90 universities directly meeting prospective students under the same roof from a large pool of study abroad destinations like Canada, USA, Australia, UK, Malaysia, Netherlands, UAE and many others.

More than 700 students came to join the day-long event focusing on landing admissions and seeking out academic merit-based scholarships that were on offer. Students got the chance to get the latest program details and one-to-one review of their academic results directly by the university representatives.

EIES 2022 was kicked off with an inauguration speech by the company CEO Thomas Gomes who, during his speech,  mentioned the importance of such physical events post pandemic to help Bangladeshi students and their parents make the right decision regarding their study abroad plans.

Among other dignitaries who were present during the occasion, Eduko Group CEO Sandeep Ananthanarayanan added that Eduko’s mission was to empower the lives of 10 million Bangladeshi students by 2030 by bringing world class overseas education into their affordable reach.

The event, organised by Eduko Pathways Bangladesh and Universal College Bangladesh, will run from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Top-ranked universities, business and medical schools, and specialised colleges will meet prospective students and their families.

Each visiting student will get the chance to speak to counsellors one-on-one, discussing preferred subjects, tuition fees and scholarship options. The fair will bring representatives from more than 90 institutions of seven countries.