Richland welcomes student from Bangladesh

This is the third in a series of articles featuring international students at Richland.
Ashik S. Ghani, 20, is a finance major from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. He's been in the U.S. since August 2012. He was first admitted to the University of Arkansas but transferred to Richland to be closer to his sister who lives in Irving.
Ghani has one advantage many international students do not.
"In Bangladesh our native language is Bangli," he said, "but the official language is English. Any papers you have to write or any official documents have to be in English. Most of the time we use the British English," he said, so he did have some trouble at first converting from British English to American English.
In describing the difference between life in the U.S. and Bangladesh, Ghani said there was "a huge difference from Bangladesh to here because Bangladesh is just a developing country ... third-world country right now. The thing is, the U.S. is the No. 1 country in the whole world. Everyone knows this.
 "And the culture, there is a big difference in the culture also. It's like more freedom over here. It's not like that in Bangladesh [where] people are more conservative in how they think. It's ... more open-minded over here."
Because of this, Ghani has experienced some cultural problems.
"The thing is that I face some difficulties because some people are more conservative over there, so should I say this directly to you or not? There is some confusion going on in my mind. Should I be more open to the people over here or should I be a little bit conservative?
"But trust me, people are more friendly over here. They welcome anything at any time. They're ready for it. So yeah, that's the good part ... hopefully we'll change in my country, too."
Ghani said he plans to get his undergraduate degree and his masters, probably from the University of Texas at Dallas. Then he will return to Bangladesh.
"That is the initial plan. I want to go back and serve my country because that's my responsibility, I think, to serve my country."
On the topic of Richland, Ghani had plenty of complimentary things to say.
"When I transferred from a university to a community college, I thought, oh my ... there's gonna be a school like an elementary school. It was way different, like an actual university. It's a small campus but a lot of events are going on. They have a lot of different clubs like Phi Theta Kappa and other clubs."
Ghani gave a lot of credit for his success to the professors at Richland.
"They are really helpful. Whenever I have problems with any ... classes, they are always there to help me. They're the best ... I can ask for (in) a campus."
 The campus itself got rave reviews from Ghani.
"You have a beautiful campus," he said. "Most of the time I study by the lake. I love the sound of the water. Yeah, I like this place. I often come here late at night and just sit ... to calm down my mind."
Even a serious, focused young man needs to relax.
"Most of the time I'm busy with my studies," he said. "I also work on campus in the computer lab. Whenever I get some leisure time, I like to play video games. I like to play soccer. Some of my friends, we gather every Saturday on campus to play soccer."
Ghani had some final thoughts on Richland. "I love this campus. I've learned a lot from Richland."
Ghani credited Richland with helping him learn to communicate well and adapt to our culture.
"I'd like to thank Richland for ... those things," he said. "Richland was really welcoming to me."