Study Abroad Stories - Tahmid's Experience

Tahmid Alam is currently a Software Engineer at The Jockey Club, USA. He holds a Master’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University Fort Wayne and BRAC University, respectively.

Before pursuing his Master’s degree, Tahmid worked as a Software Developer in Bangladesh for more than 2 years. During that time, he experienced an unproductive atmosphere with little potential for growth at his workplace. This led him to strive for pursuing a Master’s degree abroad.

While continuing his undergraduate studies, Tahmid did not prepare for higher studies abroad since he was unsure about pursuing it. He had an inadequate research background, so when the time came, he relied heavily on Google search to gather the necessary information. Initially, Tahmid’s searches were vague, but as time passed, they became more focused. To shortlist universities, he used the world university ranking for Computer Science and the professor’s field of study as metrics.

Unfortunately, Tahmid could not find any professor who would support him with the necessary funding for his Master’s degree by allowing him to work at the professor’s research group. The majority of the funding was allocated for PhD students, and getting funding for a Master’s degree was highly competitive.

After starting his Master’s degree in the USA, Tahmid found that time management was his major challenge. Without any help, he had to do everything from laundry to grocery shopping to cooking. In addition, he needed to work a part-time job to support his financial needs while studying. However, he was able to manage all of this by planning at least a week in advance.

Tahmid felt that studying abroad had given him many life experiences and perspectives. Being away from his family and friends taught him to appreciate and respect them even more. He learned various skills, such as managing personal finances, proper time management, fixing cars, cooking, and maintaining good health. Additionally, he met and befriended people from diverse countries, cultures, religions, and backgrounds.

Special thanks to Tahmid Alam for taking out the time to share his study abroad experience with me.