By day, Md Masudur Rahman Nayan attended college. By afternoon, he was working as a security guard at Benapole Land Port. Sometimes, after guarding the port throughout the night, he would head straight to class the next morning, sacrificing sleep and rest to keep his education on track.
The exhausting routine eventually helped the young man from Benapole in Jashore’s Sharsha upazila secure a place in the Department of Sociology at Chittagong University (CU) for the 2024–25 academic session. But even after years of financing his studies through his own earnings, his mother had to sell her gold chain to cover his university admission expenses.
Nayan’s struggle began after completing his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations, when his family could not afford his college admission expenses.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he had earned money through online work and used his savings to buy a laptop. Determined to continue studying, he sold the laptop to pay his college admission fees, buy textbooks and arrange his uniform.
But within 15 to 20 days of starting college, another financial challenge emerged. His daily transport expenses amounted to Tk50, which his family could not afford regularly.
Unwilling to place an additional burden on his family, Nayan began looking for work. With help from his father and brothers, he secured a job as a security guard at Benapole Land Port in early 2023.
Balancing work and education soon became a race against time.
Of the port’s three shifts, Nayan regularly worked either from 3pm to 11pm or from 11pm to 7am, allowing him to attend college during the day.
When assigned the afternoon shift, he would leave for college around 7am, finish classes by 2:30pm and head straight to work, returning home around midnight.
On night shifts, he left home around 10pm, worked until 7am and went directly to college before returning home in the afternoon.
Despite the demanding schedule, he continued paying his college fees, coaching expenses and transport costs from his earnings.
Financial hardship was not his only challenge. Nayan also faced ridicule from people who looked down on his job.
Some mocked him by saying, “The guard is coming, move aside.”
He faced similar remarks while working in the port’s residential area. Although the comments hurt, he refused to let them distract him from his studies.
Some friends encouraged him, reminding him that earning an honest living was nothing to be ashamed of.
Nayan chose to ignore the insults and concentrate on his education, determined to improve his circumstances through hard work rather than respond to the taunts.
His ambition to study at a public university developed while working at the port, where he met students from several public universities who had arrived for an organisation’s activities.
Conversations with them inspired him to pursue higher education.
After working for around one year and eight months to two years, Nayan left his job following his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations to concentrate on university admission preparations.
He enrolled at Paragon Admission Centre in Jashore, where he spent seven to eight months preparing for admission tests.
His savings from the security job covered his coaching fees and accommodation expenses throughout the preparation period.
His efforts eventually earned him admission to Chittagong University. But securing a place at his dream institution presented another financial challenge.
By then, Nayan had almost exhausted his savings and was struggling to arrange the money needed for the preliminary and final stages of admission.
He told his mother that he would sell his favourite mobile phone to cover the expenses.
His mother refused and assured him that she would arrange the money.
Nayan later discovered that she had quietly sold her gold chain to pay his admission fees and initial expenses.
The sacrifice enabled him to begin university life after years of financing his education largely through his own earnings.
Now in his second year in the Department of Sociology, Nayan supports himself through private tuition, covering his accommodation, food and educational expenses.
Having worked through sleepless nights to continue studying, he now hopes to establish himself professionally and take full responsibility for his parents.
“My only goal in life is to fulfil my parents’ wishes and take full responsibility for them,” Nayan said.
