A PhD student from Bangladesh in the English Department of the College of Arts and Sciences, Mafruha Shifat shares her “Your America in 250 Words” essay.
"Last month, when I won a national award for my research, I found myself connecting the dots among a few passing memories. Before I came to the United States, one of my Bangladeshi professors told me I had to come to America because it would always be the place where I could learn and grow into the kind of woman scholar I want to become.
I also remembered my childhood, when my mother read me stories about the Wright brothers’ first flying experiences, and she said, “If they could fly, so can you.” Years later, while visiting the Wright Brothers National Museum in Dayton, I video-called my mom to show her where I was standing. In that moment, everything felt full circle. America has given me wings as a writer.
Beyond my scholarly journey, my America exists in smaller moments too: learning to walk like a penguin on icy Fargo streets in -17-degree weather, eating Bomb Pops and waving tiny American flags during a preschool Independence Day celebration for my friend’s daughter, hearing students sing “Mary, Did You Know?” near Ohio State's Mirror Lake while warming my frozen hands with hot chocolate, watching snow, magnolias, squirrels, and birds from my living room window with my cats Linus and Penelope, cooking American chili with spices from the Bangladeshi grocery store across the street from my apartment in Columbus, and decorating my refrigerator from a rose-shaped magnet from Portland to a crab-shaped magnet from Baltimore; I am gradually learning what my professor meant."
The Office of International Affairs invites Ohio State’s international students to participate in the “Your America in 250 Words” essay and photo contest, a unique opportunity to share personal perspectives and experiences while studying and traveling in the United States.