Feature

A different kind of education

Shammi S. Quddus

WHENEVER one thinks of the name Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the next word that comes to mind is engineering. While the stereotype of the bespectacled MIT computer science engineer programming away into the night is not totally untrue, I want to talk about a different kind of education I received at MIT - one that is almost always drowned out among the stellar scientific accomplishments of this institution, but one that has been as much rewarding and enjoyable for me as my academics here.

I started my life here as an undergraduate in the fall 2006. Freshman year is the time when new students explore new passions. MIT has an extremely rich student life, with student activities ranging from art to athletics to shooting one another with rubber bullets. Before coming to MIT, I had trained in karate for several years back in Chittagong - my hometown - and as a homesick puppy, decided to look for kindred souls in the various martial arts clubs on campus. One Monday evening, after classes, I wandered into the indoor basketball courts, following the loud kiaps that I could hear from downstairs. I was completely awestruck by what I saw before me. Rows and rows of students, impeccably dressed in their dobaks were kicking away: jumping, spinning, kicking energetic, powerful and yet in perfect timing with the calls from coach, Master Chuang. Master Chuang is a fourth degree black belt; taekwondo coach by night, computer scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory by day: the combination of the intellectual athlete runs deep at MIT, even among its coaches!

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that loosely translates to “way of the fist and foot”. It is Korea's national sport and considered an integral part of its culture (you can get a bachelor's degree in taekwondo in Korea!). Sport taekwondo has evolved more to the way of the foot. Defensive hand techniques have been replaced by explosive, scoring kicks: double and triple kicks, jumping back, axe and spinning reverse to name a few all of which would probably get me killed in real life attack. So no, sport taekwondo is not about self defense: it has as much to do with self defense as tennis. Traditional taekwondo, however, is the weapon of training for the Korean army and they use it with deadly efficiency.

It did not take me much convincing to jump into the club. The energy was contagious, the atmosphere very welcoming, the culture very open and quality of training definitely among the best in the collegiate league. The club competes in division 1 of the league, are current league and National Collegiate champions. I started competing with the team my sophomore year. The team participates in six tournaments a year, five of which are away tournaments. Competing for the team has been one of the highlights of my MIT experience and the activity that has caused my parents the most stress! The camaraderie and sportsmanship of the club truly shine when you see it in action during competition day. For more than 12 hours, the team relentlessly cheers on its own. Whenever an MIT athlete is on the mat, the whole team gathers around, shouting and pushing him or her on. My first time in the ring, I was extremely surprised to hear my name being cheered on, “Everyone is cheering for me?” Soon I understood why it was so important. Knowing my team is behind me gave me a lot of confidence to go out there and just give it my all. There is a wonderful synergy between the player in the ring and the team outside.

Each one feeds off of the energy of the other to achieve personal and collective best.

It's not all pretty pink in taekwondo. Training and competing with a full course load, research and other club commitments is not easy. It is three nights of training and more so if you really want to excel. It is being away for a weekend on average every month. It is a lot of injuries hurt insteps, bruised shins and the occasional concussion from being kicked on the head. But then there is the satisfaction of point-gapping your opponent in a match, seeing your own foot coming down on your opponent's flinching face, egging on one another for the last push-up or getting to win a national collegiate gold medal. There are many success stories of club alumni who have not only performed excellently in the collegiate level, but have gone one to great laurels in the national and international arena. This year, four members of MIT Sport Taekwondo are part of the USA National Collegiate Team that is going to Serbia to compete in the World University Games the Olympics for collegiate athletes.

Practicing taekwondo at MIT has brought a tremendous sense of balance to my life here. When I go to practice and kick out those 100 kicks, I feel all the stress of school work and deadlines dissolving. When I fail a test and my self esteem is not doing so well, my taekwondo reassures me that yes I am good in something. It gives me a whole new set of goals to pursue other than grades and classes. I remain healthy and energetic through the sport; I have learned a lot about team work and keeping a positive attitude no matter what. A lot of us will be heading to foreign shores for university where a kaleidoscope of experiences awaits. We have all done the gamut of debate, drama, singing and dancing at school in Bangladesh, so in this new phase of life why not try something completely new? Try something athletic, try out for a varsity team, break the stereotype that Bangalis don't make good athletes. As for myself, I look forward to my fourth year, my last at MIT and hope to graduate with my bachelor's degree in environmental engineering and my black belt in taekwondo.

Shammi is a fourth year undergraduate in environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), class of 2010. She has a black belt in karate, a black stripe in taekwondo and competes as a lightweight for women's A team for the MIT Sport Taekwondo team.

Practicum Defense Examination at IUBAT

THE Bachelor Degree aspirants of IUBATInternational University of Business Agriculture and Technology participated in Practicum Defense Examination to demonstrate individual skill, ability and expertise by delivering hour-long presentation before the panel of examiners on 24 August. The curriculum designed in line with global practices have the mandatory provision of identifying the inner faculty of the internees and the range of capabilities developed through application of such standard curriculum.

The two-day Practicum examination was arranged at the Conference Hall of IUBAT. The programme was chaired by Prof M Alimullah Miyan, Vice Chancellor who in his initiation speech emphasized on acquiring first rate efficiency, resilience and professionalism to face the challenges.

The programme was attended among others by Prof. Mahmuda Khanum, Pro Vice-Chancellor Engr. Abdul Wadud, Coordinator, Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Md. Munirul Islam, Chair, Civil Engineering, Prof. M Aman Ullah, Programme Coordinator, College of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Dr. Md. Shohidullah Director, College of Agriculture, Dr M A Jabbar, Chair, Economics Department, Mr Tanvir H Dewan, Coordinator, Business Administration faculty, Mr. Utpal Kanti Das, Programme Coordinator, College of Computer Science along with other interdepartmental faculty members and students. The deliberations of the internees in presence of full house IUBAT experts and the practicum report will be evaluated by a body of assigned faculty examiners to equate the credit lines before conferring grades to individual candidates.