Bangladeshi Culture

January, 2003: A labor of love in foreign, unfamiliar territory. I am born, a culmination of my parents’ hopes, dreams, and aspirations. A culmination of the growing Bangladeshi diaspora.

Competition Trish

For the first three years of high school, I spent most of my time being Just Trish.

Sandbox + Career

When I was younger, I loved to play in the small sandbox on our porch. A beach shovel in one hand and a plastic bucket in the other, I became a one-woman construction crew. In the sandbox, I had the ability to turn a lifeless desert into anything I wanted.

Mind of a Doctor

My dad always told me, “Ashna, you have the mind of an engineer.” This made sense; like an engineer, I could fix anything: taking apart our barbeque grill to attach some wires to make the side burner function again or finding an iPhone trick to make my mom’s unstable WiFi work. I can assemble almost anything, just with the pictures, including a bench-press weight set with an assembly manual that was so confusing that it was better off to come without one.

Lessons in Fainting

I tend to faint at the most inopportune times. In fact, it’s made me kinda famous at school.

Trauma Surgeon

Derived from the Greek term “etumología,” etymology is the study of the original meaning of a word. In defining the term, I have also explained its own etymology. Neat, huh?

Exploring the World, Building Connections

When I was about ten, I wanted a tropical fish tank of my own. My mother insisted I write a formal proposal before funding my project. Armed with a book on tropical fish-keeping, and the online insights of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I learned about nitrogen cycles, fish compatibility, aquatic plants, and maintenance.

Translating

“.miK ijniM” This is how I wrote my name until I was seven. I was a left-handed kid who wrote from right to left, which made my writing comprehensible only to myself.

Charting My Own Course

I’ve been comfortable zagging while others are zigging since I was little. It started on father-son trips to Nashville. My dad and I would go to our favorite restaurant, Mission BBQ, and without fail, on our way there, Dad would turn left. I would gently tug at his hand to turn right.

Trying New Things

As a kid, whenever it came to school projects, I was never hesitant to try new things. From designing propellers in second grade, to making a life-sized cardboard raft in fourth grade, I’ve always enjoyed coming up with out-of-the-box (literally!) ideas.

Parkour

I’m standing on the roof of my gym looking down at the mats in the parking lot twenty feet below. I close my eyes to prepare for the plunge and calm my nerves, though logically, I know that I won’t miss my target. I take a deep breath, bend my knees, and dive downwards into my flip…