Narsingdi's Raihan Mia finally fulfills his dream of studying at Harvard University

Growing up in a remote area by the Meghna River, Raihan Mia always aimed high. When he achieved excellent results in his SSC exams and everyone suggested that he enroll in a local college in Narsingdi's Raipur, Raihan was already looking for a path to study at one of the best colleges in the country.

He researched on his own and decided to apply to Notre Dame College. But he had no one in Dhaka to hand in his application form for him. So, one day, he boarded a train by himself.

That solo journey to the capital was filled with fear, excitement, and dreams. That very journey has now led him to Massachusetts in the United States, where he has been accepted to study Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His classes are set to begin this month.

After passing his HSC from Notre Dame College, Raihan Mia was admitted to Dhaka university and his Department of Development Studies. One day in class, a teacher mentioned higher education opportunities in Development Studies.

From that day on, Raihan began pouring over the websites of various foreign universities. One day, he learned about the Harvard Kennedy School and made up his mind that if he were to study abroad, it would be at this school.

Raihan said, I started doing everything necessary to get into this school from that moment. They highly value good grades in quantitative courses. From then on, I separated the quantitative courses from all my four years of undergraduate studies.

I gave more importance to these courses. I got A+ in all of them. At the same time, I also stayed involved in the volunteer work I had started in college because they give importance to that as well. 

However, taking all this preparation, Raihan faced the hard reality of his life. In 2010, at the start of his second year of undergraduate studies, he lost his father.

As the eldest son, he takes family responsibility on his shoulders. He was forced to take a job at a mobile company's call center. He would attend classes during the day and work this part-time job at night.

This work began to impact his studies, and his grades suffered. He quit the job and started looking for an alternative source of income. At that time, he began teaching at a university admission coaching center, a job he continued until he finished his Master’s. All the while, he was also preparing for a government job.

Recalling those days, Raihan said, "While studying for my Masters, I divided my time between departmental and job studies. Departmental studies from morning to one in the afternoon, and BCS studies after one in the afternoon."

As a result, my departmental results also started to improve, and as a first timer I passed the BCS written exam. At that time, I felt like my dream was close.

After completing his academic studies, Raihan wanted to focus only on studying for the BCS exam for a while, but this time that was not possible due to family and financial problems. He joined BRAC University's Center for Entrepreneurship (CED) as a research associate. Along with this job, he also took BCS preparation.

In 2016, Raihan passed the 34th BCS and joined as a non-cadre sub-registrar. Even then, he to try to join the administration cadre through subsequent BCS exams, as this cadre was linked to his dream of studying at his desired university. He took the BCS exams from the 34th to the 40th, but each time, he had to be content with a non-cadre position. 

Raihan got married in 2020. Under the pressure of his family life and job, his dream of studying at Harvard gradually began to fade. He wondered if he could get into Harvard with a decade-long study gap. Because of these doubts, he started preparing applications for other universities.

Raihan made a list of 10 universities in the United States to apply to. However, his wife and a friend encouraged him. He said, "My wife and friend told me to apply to Harvard and then just forget about it. I also applied to Harvard with the thought that it wouldn't happen!"

Two weeks after applying, offer letters started coming in from various universities. When he received admission offers from 8 out of the 10 universities he had applied to, Raihan's dreams soared again. Was it possible he would get into Harvard?

While he was in this state of suspense, on 15 March, he received that dream email. The Harvard Kennedy School sent him an offer letter to be admitted into the Master in Public Policy programme.

Raihan Mia went to the United States on academic leave this month to fulfill a long-cherished dream.