The South Asia Fall Tour 2019, hosted by the American embassy's EducationUSA Student Advising Center, took place on September 7, at Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden.

Representatives from 14 US universities, including Louisiana Tech University, Youngstown State University, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, University of Northern Iowa , University of Missouri-Columbia , Springfield College, Montana State University, Boise State University, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, McNeese State University, Mercy College, University of Houston-Victoria, The University of New Mexico, Colorado State University  and a consortium representing twelve more institutions, had their corresponding booths at the event.

US Ambassador Earl R Miller opened the event with his statement. "EducationUSA is a US Department of State Network of over 425 international student advising centres in 178 countries, including seven advisers based in Bangladesh," he said. "The network promotes higher education in America to students around the world by offering information about opportunities to study at accredited institutions in the USA. All of EducationUSA's services are free of charge."

Photo: Piyas Biswas

During the fair, students had the chance to discuss higher education opportunities, study areas, and financial aid options in the US, among other things, through interactive talks with 26 university representations and presentation speakers, under one roof.

Two presentations took place at the event. An interactive session, "Higher Study Opportunities in the United States", by AQM Mushfiq Hassan, the outreach coordinator of EducationUSA, followed by another presentation, "F1 Student Visa Seminar",  led by a US Embassy consular officer, was organised.

A bilingual panel discussion titled, "Life in the US and its Impact on the Global Career Market", was also held, before an interactive question-answer session. The discussion was moderated by the EducationUSA Adviser, Md Razoun Siddiky Tohin. It featured Zuhayr Reaz, Rafsanul Hoque Hridoy, Zahidul Islam Zahid and Hasan Al-Mahmud, who are Bangladeshi alumni of US universities. 

The hustle and bustle of the gathered crowd, along with their multifarious questions tinted with enthusiasm, demonstrated Bangladeshi students' tenacious ambitions for scholastic merit.

EducationUSA's South Asia Fall Tour 2019 commenced in Bangladesh, and will continue in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan throughout September.