Engineering student finds passion in everything that isn’t engineering

Two years into university, local engineering student continues to find everything other than his major as fascinating and compelling. Although Shadman Sakib had wasted 12 years of his life before coming to Azimpur University of Engineering and Technology (AUET), engineering changed his perspective forever.

"I've spent my early teens roaming around GTA and late teens doing MUNs. Clearly, productivity isn't my cup of tea. I don't know how I got into engineering in the first place. I often have fits of epilepsy where I remain unconscious for certain periods of time, in this case, four months of admission preparation to be precise," Shadman explains his journey to AUET.

"Engineering is like a Bengali arranged marriage. By the time you realise this should've been your decision and not your parents', it's often too late," he says.

Shadman's journey started mid-pandemic when he enrolled into multiple courses he couldn't commit to, much like his relationships.

"Scrolling through Coursera, I finally realised how my mother feels at Gawsia," Shadman continues. "With online courses, I could learn about our quantum world. Sure, I failed grade 9 Physics but my failures don't define who I am! I currently have 52 incomplete courses. Coursera keeps begging me to come back. But one thing I've learned from my MUN days – some things in life are simply about participating and gaining social media points."

Shadman's next venture was finding something less academic. He spent months searching for a hobby, "At first, I had to complete the basics of looking for a hobby. Buy a ukulele, fail miserably on first try, realise that it takes some time and then give up within a week. My irresistible urge to look cool unfortunately wasn't enough to make my ADHD get up and put in the effort to learn a new skill."

After music, Shadman tried his luck with arts, "I explored the world of modern art before I went through the usual process of cursing my parents for making me choose engineering, whining on social media and realising I should've opted for Charukola although I never even held a brush in my life. I bought the equipment, drew primitive acrylic paintings of random flowers from the internet because they're the easiest to imitate and yet somehow messed it up. My art page got tanked after 34 likes and so I gave up."

Shadman's desperation to find his passion pushed him so far that he became the very thing his kind swore to destroy, "From bashing BBA undergrads on the internet to joining a business competition, I came full circle. It was filled with people like me who were unhappy with their majors but too lazy to do something about it."

However, in his search for passion, Shadman forgot something small yet crucial. He forgot to study, "Term finals were here and I vowed to cram six months' worth of syllabus within two weeks. I stayed up nights, got depressed, grew an eating disorder and a chronic back pain."

Shadman, of course, continues to blame it all on engineering.

Remind Ifti to be quieter at hasiburrashidifti@gmail.com