Mishad Hosen is 18 years old and is majoring in mechanical engineering. At the age of 10 years old he and his family moved from Bangladesh to Queens, New York. It has been quite the journey for Mishad when it comes to language, and this is because it is not easy for anyone to come to a completely new country at such a young age and have to adapt within a few months so he doesn’t fall behind with his education and work. During this interview Mishad gives us more details and gets into talking about the journey of his language and the challenges he went through.

Moving to a completely new country at such a young age can be challenging for anyone and that was Mishad’s case. He was struggling a lot with his language journey in school specifically due to kids being mean and not as friendly because he had an accent. This is something that can be very hard on young students to go through because it can have a bad effect on their confidence or personality, and it is hard alone coming to a new country where they don’t know anything. During the interview Mishad said “I think teachers/schools should be more friendly with the kids who struggle a little with speaking and writing English, especially the immigrants.” Mishad is not the only person who feels this way, and this is something that has been heard about and has been trying to be more implemented in schools where the system works a bit more with those students who come from a different country to be more comfortable in a classroom.

Mishad’s experience also shares a lesson to students, it is important for students to be more compassionate and respectful to those who are new to the country or have struggles with things they might not struggle with. Everyone is different and Mishad experience is very similar to a lot of students’ experience. This is something the school system should also try implementing a bit more, Mishad journey was 8 years ago and a lot of students are still going through the same thing as Mishad till this day. It is important to help students feel as comfortable as possible in an educational environment.

Mishad says, “you should be proud of your English and embrace the way you speak and write English. Different people come from different places and have different stories so we all should be more accepting towards each other and help them.” It is important for every student to feel the same way as Mishad at the end of their journey because this will only help them use their voice and be able to participate and engage in class without feeling insecure or nervous.