Who are NDMYOU

By Mylaika Stephenson

Columns explores the unique stories of community members because every gator has a tale.

Sophomore education major, Tasnin Aktar, was born in Bangladesh on December 21,1999. Aktar has two older sisters and a younger brother. When she first stepped on American soil, where she first experienced snow, she was ten years old.

After arriving in America, Aktar went through a culture shock. The greatest obstacle was living in a country with a foreign language, and she had a difficult time making friends with the people around her.

Aktar’s first year and a half was spent in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she mother took care of her and her siblings.

Her father was not able to come to America the same year as his family because of complications with his visa process. In Bangladesh, Aktar was in the third grade, but in the U.S., she was placed into the fifth grade.

Although Aktar’s first years were difficult, Maryland has become her home. Throughout her education, she attended Silver Spring High School where she was a summer teaching assistant for a local elementary school.

When she chose to attend NDMU over other schools, it was because of the school’s prestigious nursing program.

Initially, Aktar pursued nursing before deciding to take advantage of the various opportunities offered by different majors. Aktar studied nursing and business before finding her niche in education.

Aktar’s parents have been the strongest influences in her life. She has great admiration for what her parents did to give their children a better life. Now that she is older, she understands the sacrifices they had to make with leaving their home country.

According to Aktar, these sacrifices lead to her greatest goals and accomplishments including her pursuit of a degree, doing well in school, and making her parents sacrifices worth something.

Her ideal future would be to go to graduate school, and find a job in Maryland that fulfills her passions.

Photo By Mylaika Stephenson