I am midway through my Third year at Berkeley City College and UC Berkeley, majoring in Computer Science and Math. I plan to transfer to Berkeley in Fall 2020.

A bit about my past: I was born and raised in Bangladesh, and left at 17 with my mother, and sister. We had waited 14 years for our visa’s to America. We came to California with the dream of creating a better future. We lived with our uncle initially, and I was enrolled in the nearest high school. After a few months of searching for work, the family decided to move to New York where job prospects for low-skilled immigrants were better.

This was difficult for me because although I did not want to be apart from my family, leaving California would have disrupted my education. After careful reflection about my values, skills, and the goals I set for myself, I chose to interrupt my education and stayed behind in California with my uncle.

As Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

I believe that there’s nothing that can’t be achieved if you put enough effort into your goal. I always remind myself that if somebody else has already done what I want to do in the future, if they could do it I can do that too.

I have always enjoyed meeting new people because I learn something new from every person that I meet. My enjoyment of meeting new people is the major reason why I have done lots of volunteer work for various organizations, such as Rich City Rides, Richmond Youth Center, Richmond Groundworks, and ECHS School garden, Cal hacks. Being involved in these organizations helps me be a better person every step of the way. I enjoy meeting people from different cultures as they are so stimulating to talk to.

I try to learn something new every day. It doesn’t really matter what I learn. I am up for learning anything that makes me smart and which will help me reach my dreams in the future. Learning never ends.

I work at Mountain Hardwear Employee store during the weekend and spend most of my spare time studying. I also do the cooking for my coop friends and myself.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I live at a co-op by the International House at UC Berkeley however, co-op housing is really expensive over the summer but I'll be taking a class over the summer at UC Berkeley so I need a place to live during my class and because of that I am here to get a bit of help from this community.

Interests

I spend most of my time researching topics that like. For example US politics, world hunger, poverty, environmental issues, education, technology, US foreign policy, etc. I think about how to contribute to solving some of the world’s most complicated problems, problems that cause many thousands of needless deaths. I research ways to uplift my community in Bangladesh, and hope to be part of a solution that helps kids go to school rather than to work when they are children, and also how to give them internet access so they aren’t left out of opportunities for learning for a better life that we are blessed with in the United States.

• photography
• cooking
• indian food
• gardening
• politics
• news
• volunteer work
• music
• swimming
• communications
• computer science
• physics
• google
• world
• travelling
• going out
• sleep
• learning new things
• different cultures
• exploring new places
• learning new languages
• communication
• research
• good conversation
• hangout
• meet new people
• tech
• photos
• computer programming
• software engineering
• good people
• helping others
• poverty
• bangladesh
• vocabulary
• google jobs
• cricket game
• phone apps
• little kids
• garments workers

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I got good at English in four months. proud of myself :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook highly spiced Bengali and Indian food.

Always interested in learning new things especially learning about a different culture is something that I enjoy

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share stories of life from a different culture. I can offer a lively conversation on many topics.

I really enjoy cooking now after cooking at my co-op for a semester. So I can make pretty good Bengali food.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bangladesh