Overview

Career fair offers lessons

Coming to America

Volleyball creates civil union

Alumni Spotlight

Awards & Recognition • BCoE outreach proves to be
high return on investment for Mississippians
• ME faculty earn national honors
• For university president leadership is easy as 'Pi'
• Chemical engineering students receive national recognition
• BCoE adds new endowed professorship

BCoE & MSU Quick LinkBagley College of Engineering

BCoE Newsroom

BCoE Podcasts

Mississippi State University

MSU Newsroom

Alumni Foundation

Giving

Many students travel from the other side of the world to fulfill their dreams of having a better life. More specifically, they come to the United States to study and graduate with a degree from an American university. For many the price is high in terms of dollars and in terms of friends and family support. For instance, three Bagley College of Engineering graduate students Shaheen Ahmed from Bangladesh, Anas Mahmoud from Jordan and Tuba Yilmaz from Turkey, left everything familiar to study computer science, electrical and industrial engineering here at Mississippi State. They left their home country for similar reasons.

Tuba Yilmaz: I earned my bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Technical University. I knew if I wanted a job where I could work anywhere in the world that I wanted, I needed to get my masters degree in electrical engineering from an American university.

Shaheen Ahmed: In Bangladesh you can get a job in my country if you have a degree in agriculture and food sciences. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (ME), and then went to Sweden to earn my graduate degree in ME, but the lack of infrastructures in a third-world country means they haven’t caught up and come to value those kinds of degrees yet—they are not in high demand. Plus, I want to make a difference and teach in my country. If I stayed and earned my Ph.D. in Bangladesh, I wouldn’t be hired as a professor because of the low level of classes and research required to earn a doctorate in my country.

Anas Mahmoud: In Jordan, it is a dream for everyone in our country to be able to come to America and earn a degree in higher education. Jordan is a third-world country and we don’t have the technological and economic infrastructure of the United States.

Yilmaz, Ahmed and Mahmoud are excited to be here in the states because they had to go through a ton of red tape before they could be officially accepted at Mississippi State. Even though they are enthusiastic about starting their new lives in America, moving into a foreign country thousands of miles away from home can be a very scary experience—especially when they have no family or friends living here to turn to for support when they need it. That is the situation for these brave students.

Anas Mahmoud: A year before I moved here I purchased a satellite and a television, so I could learn the American culture and what you value. Unfortunately, I was watching the Oprah and Dr. Phil shows and they really focus on the bad things that happen in the United States—those shows really don’t help build a good reputation for your country.

Shaheen Ahmed: My family was really concerned about me coming here because of my religious background and what happened on September 11. I’m a Muslim. I want Americans to know that the Koran is about peace and respect and to please don’t judge the entire religion by the actions of some Muslim fanatics.

Tuba Yilmaz: For me it has been a little annoying; I feel that just because I’m from Turkey that I have to fight the prejudgments people have about the Turkish people. For instance, they assume I’m from the third-world area of Eastern Turkey and that I’m uneducated, dirty, and irresponsible. What if I were to put all Americans in one box and generalize them. I mean the media depicts Americans as mean, selfish, snobby, obese, and extravagant. When I got off the plane I thought I would see huge, mean and ugly people, but that wasn’t true.

Leaving home and relatives is difficult for any student, but international students are usually away from their families for years at a time. Some of the legal issues surrounding their circumstances, as well as financial and time burdens prevent them from having the luxury of packing up a suitcase and going home for a weekend or during a semester break. Loneliness is one of the issues they deal with besides the language barriers and cultural differences.

Anas Mahmoud: America has the most powerful economy with state-of the-art technology and innovative infrastructures, and that creates opportunities that most people from other parts of the world do not have. Let’s face it, their dream, like mine, is to come here. I think America is diverse, but what is surprising to me in the two months that I’ve been here is that each race stays to themselves and that has made it difficult for me to build a support system here.

Tuba Yilmaz: For example there are Indian people here and they stick to their own group, there are Turkish people and they hangout with just each other, there are the Chinese groups, the black groups, and the list goes grows, but none of them have any American friends. You rarely see any of these groups interacting and getting to know each another. I mean creating real friendships; I’m not just talking about the casual friendly greetings of “Good morning or hello.”

I’m not for sure what Americans think diversity is, so my goal while I’m here is to exchange and talk about differences and create friendships with people who have different backgrounds. I have to admit, it’s been difficult, I’ve really had to push myself to reach outside my comfort zone and try to connect with someone. I came to the realization that it was up to me to take the initiative to meet new people, because they were not going to come to me.

Shaheen Ahmed: I miss my family, we’re all very close, but as we all know, if you want to change something, you have to work hard for it, you have to pay for it—and that is what I’m doing by living here in the States and studying for my doctoral degree.

Yilmaz, Mahmoud and Ahmed began their American journey last August and won’t be able to return home for quite sometime. When seeing them on campus, please share some of that famous southern hospitality, and remember that while a smile can break down barriers, taking the time to build friendships, relationships and mutual understandings can create world peace.