“Reminiscence of a Five Year Journey in AUW”

Farishta Afzaly

Coming from different countries and leaving behind our families, friends, and the beautiful lands we’re familiar with was not an easy task for us. This experience has the story of fear, insecurity, and unfamiliarity attached to it. This country, for many of us, was a completely new environment with different cultures and people. Coping up with the food was another challenge for some of us. But we adjusted over time. The Asian University for Women (AUW), an institution that has transformed us into the people we are today, is a place where ‘diversity is celebrated, differences are accepted and friendship is built beyond boundaries’. This five-year journey has transformed me personally and intellectually and has helped me grow as a young woman leader. If you ask me what kind of person I was five years ago, I would say that Farishta 5 years ago was a shy, dependent, and conservative girl with little sense of responsibility. Today, the same girl is standing in front of you with confidence, optimism, and motivation and with big dreams and responsibilities to contribute to a better world. I am sure you would have the same answer about yourself (fellow students of AUW).

In these five years of our AUW journey, we supported, pushed, and motivated each other in odd times. We celebrated our differences and diversity on a cross-cultural day by exchanging our traditional dresses and performing together. We laughed and cried together and shared the bonding of sisterhood. How beautiful it is to think about these five years of extraordinary experiences during our AUW journey as we graduate and look back. I still remember the first days of our university when we did not know each other well and were uncomfortable sharing our stories with each other. Most importantly, we overcame challenges with resilience and did not give up during the toughest times. We became each other’s family when our family and friends were far away from us. We appreciated each other for who we are. As part of my AUW experience, I was always motivated to help my friends and juniors whenever I could. I tried my best to organize events where we built our friendships and recalled our memories of the previous years. The days of struggle for grades and all other sleepless nights will be forgotten but the friendships we have built, the challenges we have overcome, and the supporting hand that we have offered to each other will always be cherished and will remind us of our unique sisterhood and AUW journey.

Now I will share the most important lessons I have learned in AUW and from my five years of experience in Bangladesh. Those three messages are appreciated what you have, be resilient to grow intellectually, and have a sense of responsibility for a better and peaceful world. I am sharing this because it has and will open doors to prosperity and success. Appreciate life; do not compare your life with the lives of others and then you will see how beautiful life is and how beautiful the people around you are. If you do the opposite you will lead yourself to misery, frustration, and negative competition and you will forget humanity. If you live life with appreciation and do not compare, you start to appreciate others around you, love them unconditionally, and cooperate with them to make this world a better and peaceful place. I have learned from my peers and professors how to stand up when challenges surround me. I learned to find opportunity in challenges and learn from the journey. When you start to be responsible you will be a good and honest leader to yourself. Through resilience and tolerance, you give yourself the space to grow intellectually and professionally, and you learn from your mistakes. Personal growth allows us to value relationships and friendships and flourish them for life.

Life is too short to spend it in sadness, regret, and past mistakes. The best things about AUW students are that they spread energy, motivation, and love to the people around them by appreciating them, respecting them, and helping them.