There is no definite definition of what “being successful” entails while “aim in life” should not just be centred around becoming doctors or engineers but bringing about changes that one seeks, a cartoonist told Brac University (Bracu) students recently.
“Never lose hope as there is a lot to give to our country...do anything you want as long as it does not bring shame upon your family, surroundings and country,” added Abdulla Al Morshed, an assistant editor of UNMAD magazine.
Abdulla, who also uses the pen name Morshed Mishu, was addressing “Residential Semester Day - Summer 2019” as a guest speaker at Bracu’s Residential Campus in Savar on 27 July 2019.
“Being invited to inspire students at first felt awkward as I am a dropout,” he said.
Morshed has been listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2019 list of entrepreneurs and game-changers for his “The Global Happiness Challenge” artwork which turns scenes of war and violence into those promoting love and happiness.
Turn weaknesses into achievements, be humble in giving replies properly, bring independency in decision-making, never generalise and always remember that being loved is a form of acknowledgement that cannot be bought, he added.
Morshed also suggested making friends with at least one person with whom everything can be shared, reasoning that openly talking about and sharing problems brings benefits even if a solution was not readily available.
“I stopped being uncomfortable and lying about my freedom fighter father’s long absence for being kept in jail as a political detainee,” he said.
Educational institutions should stop neglecting the weak and championing solely the successful while teachers should act as a source of encouragement, he recommended.
Terming the speech “unconventional yet insightful”, Rehan Ahmed, superintendent of BracU’s Savar Residential Campus, said demographic dividends await Bangladesh 20 years down the line and graduates would surely take BracU to the global stage.
Earlier, Morshed went round a presentation on students’ extracurricular activities at the campus including mushroom cultivation, recycling waste to create innovative products and batik and block printing.