Humans of Portsmouth - Tanveena's Story

Everything is going well. I should not be using the word fortunately, but fortunately I have relatively less work to do today and I feel a bit relaxed knowing that I will be having someone else in our team looking over other projects. It takes a lot of pressure off of me. 

[Tell me a bit about your background and what brought you to Portsmouth] So the thing is, even though I did marketing in my undergrad, since I was little I always had interior design at the back of my mind. But I never got the chance to do interior design because back in Bangladesh where I used to live, we did not have any honours degree, like undergrad degree. All courses were diploma or short courses, and my parents were against it because they wanted me to get a proper solid degree and then explore that option if I wanted to. I started working in the marketing area and I enjoyed it. But after working for around 10-11 months in marketing, I found out that another university is launching a diploma course and my parents were okay with it because it was from a well known university. I was like: 'Fine, now it's the chance for me to actually accomplish my dream', so I left my job and got enrolled in that university, doing interior design. I loved working in interior design and project management. During that time, I actually understood the value of managing projects and the necessity of it. I liked interior design but I am the kind of person who actually loves managing projects. Even though I was an introvert, my job now revolves around talking to other people and making connections. When I started working on interior projects, I understood that I love managing projects and that now was the time to move forward in this field by getting a better solid background. I started researching higher education abroad and the University of Portsmouth was one of the places where they did not ask for a background in engineering in order to study project management. So that's why I moved to Portsmouth in 2022.

I would say I felt overwhelmed with everything with small and big adjustments. The language barrier was also difficult. English is not my first language and despite learning it in school, it is not representative of the day-to -day conversations we actually have and we don't have to use it often. So when I moved here, I knew I was good at it and that I could get things done but I wasn't fully confident when I had to do it every day, which made it quite challenging. 

Secondly, since I was fully new here, I didn't know anything about this town or city. I didn't know about the services the university provided or what the Union even was back then. Fortunately, I attended an event related to global week where I met many international students and joined the Bangladeshi society. In the society, I met some friends and made connections. I would say it helped make my journey a lot easier because still to this date, during every Ramadan, we arrange some sort of dinner to break our fast after sunset. This year was probably my third or fourth Ramadan where I had dinner with the friends I made from the Bangladeshi society. We try to keep that tradition and we try to meet at least once or twice a year. 

[Can you tell me about a place that means a lot to you?] Since I'm currently living here, I would say somewhere near the sea. I used to live in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where we don't have any beach area. When I was applying to study at the University of Portsmouth, the beach was the selling point for me.

[Most influential person] My elder sister who is five years older than me. She is the only sibling I have and when I was little my mother always used to tell me to follow her and go to her if I needed any help, especially with maths and biology since she is very good at it. Since then I understood that she is probably my role model and once I grew up and gained a better understanding of things I was like: “Yes, she's actually doing great, so she must be doing something right!”. She is a doctor in Canada, but she doesn't consult patients because she is in the research line. She is working at the University of Alberta, and at some point, probably in the near future, she wants to be a scientist, I would say.

We kind of drifted away from Bangladesh. I visited Bangladesh last year around this time, but she wasn't there. Now, we are planning to visit Bangladesh at the same time. I want to visit her in Canada this year. I have plans, I have started saving up, so we'll see. I am relying more on the plan to see each other in Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, I used to fear flying cockroaches. I am familiar with insects because they are quite common outside and I have this big fear of seeing one. That's because I know they are dirty and disgusting. For me, I would say being in a room with cockroaches is my fear. 

[What has been your favourite moment/memory of your time at Portsmouth?] When you are moving to a different country, it feels like you are leaving everything behind. Whenever someone talks to you nicely, it feels very good. After I just had Freshers, I received a 30 minutes token for the e-scooter. It was my first time trying it out and after a couple of trials, I sort of got hold of it, but I forgot how to press the brake and got pushed on the street lamp. There was a lady coming from the other side who looked like she was in her fifties and she came up to me and said: 'Darling, be careful. You're going to hurt yourself'. I cannot emphasise more on that 'darling'. It felt so good because as a foreigner you perceive things differently and you always worry if people will accept you. The longer I stayed here the more it became a day to day thing to be called 'love', 'darling' and 'honey' but when I was very new to this city, it really meant a lot to me and it felt really good to hear it. 

[What do you think is your greatest struggle?] Since I came here to pursue one of my dreams, as a trade-off I am not seeing my parents every day. I would say that's a day-to-day struggle for me. They were very supportive when I decided to move here, and they were like: "Yes, go after your dream". But this opportunity came at the cost of not being able to speak to my parents as much. Even though I call my mum after work, it's not the same. I struggle with the thought that I cannot see her everyday and whether I will be able to see her again. I guess that's something I am really afraid of and maybe I shouldn't have gone with the cockroaches as my fear. This is one of my fears, to be fair.

[Any future plans?] I want to stay here, but then again, it's something I'm still thinking of. It's not set in stone yet, because every time I think about this whole me leaving abroad situation, I always think about other things as well. I will be living apart or far away from my parents. So whenever I have to see my sister, I have to make plans: “Okay, where do I go? Do I go to Bangladesh or Canada?”. If I go to Canada, my mum will feel a little bit sad and would ask why I didn’t go see her instead. So there are multiple issues tied when it comes to my rough future plans and I am still exploring my options. 

For now, I don't have any long term plans. But what I would say I have changed a lot after moving here, in a positive way. For example, I have started taking things less personally. And I believe I will keep learning and growing. To put it simply, what excites me the most is seeing my personal growth and it helps me move forward every day.

[What is your proudest moment?] I am very proud of myself for coming to the UK and being able to adapt to living here and being able to have a master's degree. Although a lot of us have already done this, it has been challenging to get to where I am today and I am proud of myself for getting through it.

[If there is one piece of advice that you could give, what would it be?] One piece of advice, not only for international students, but for home students as well. If you think you need support, don't be afraid to seek help. The university and the union offer plenty of support, you just have to ask for it. There will be someone to help you, and you are not alone here. This is kind of linked to what I said before, about how I met some people from the Bangladeshi society and we are keeping a tradition alive because that gives us happiness. It's kind of related because I realised I wasn't alone. Although at the beginning I thought I was, that wasn't the case, all I had to do was seek out. 

[Tell me something about you that would surprise me] I can touch my nose with my tongue!