Imagine moving nearly 8,000 miles away from home at age 13 to experience a new culture and expand your educational opportunities.
Seven years ago, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point December graduate Anika Tarannum Sardar left her hometown of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to attend Pacelli Catholic High School. She joined her two older sisters, Sheela and Neela, who were both attending UW-Stevens Point, and lived with them for four years before joining the campus as a student herself.
“My parents hit their empty nest experience earlier than expected,” Sardar said. “It was very emotional to leave home but I was also excited to come to the U.S. and be a part of a cultural exchange.”
Sardar’s sisters were a huge influence on her, she said, so she followed them to UW-Stevens Point after graduating high school. The transition to college was made easier because she was already introduced to American culture. She also found support from Brad Van Den Elzen, director of UWSP International Education, who helped with the international paperwork.
“Brad was a great resource, kind and always ready to help,” said Sardar. “I also received scholarships from the university and Portage County that made my education more affordable.”
“Anika brought a fierce dedication to her academic efforts and will graduate with highest honors ahead of schedule,” said Van Den Elzen. “I’ve greatly enjoyed working with Anika. She is always prepared, asks insightful questions and never fails to leave a smile in her wake. I am very proud of her accomplishments and excited to see where her future leads. It’s been my privilege to support this remarkable young person!”
The three sisters all majored in computer information systems, but Sardar’s interest in computing started while in middle school in Bangladesh where she took part in a coding competition. At UWSP she continued her interest in programming, finding supportive professors who knew her family, recognized her skillset and encouraged her growth.
“My professors were always willing to share advice and encouraged me to apply for internships,” she said. “Having a professor reach out meant the world to me and showed me that I was making an impact in my class.”
It also inspired Sardar to use her own experiences to help her peers as a computing tutor at UWSP’s Tutoring-Learning Center (TLC).
“Tutoring reinforces my learning and is fulfilling,” she said. “I see myself in other students and its rewarding to help them. When they succeed, I succeed too.”
“Anika has been an amazing asset to the TLC,” said Joe Zawacki, TLC Online Learning coordinator. “She does a great job of explaining concepts while remaining student-centered; allowing the students who work with her the opportunity to explore these concepts at their own speed and to develop a true understanding of the material. We have been so fortunate to have her work in the TLC mentoring other students on similar paths. She will undoubtedly continue to be a leader with whatever community she joins next.”
In addition to her academic work, Sardar also joined UWSP’s International Club and served as its vice president and president. She enjoyed learning about the cultures of fellow students while sharing her own, she said.
Sardar graduated after three and a half years at UWSP, earning a Chancellor’s Leadership Award for her work both in and outside the classroom.
Her family was able to attend her graduation ceremony, her parents traveling from Bangladesh for the occasion. While it was challenging to have their daughters far from home, they were supportive.
“I always prioritized their education,” said their mother, Jahanara Khanam Swapna. “In the long run it was better for their future.”
Sheela, Anika and Neela Sardar all studied computer information systems at UWSP, nearly 8,000 miles away from their home in Bangladesh.
“This is a proud moment for our Pointer family,” said Sheela Sardar at the commencement ceremony. “While we all had similar journeys, Anika paved her own path.” Sheela is a 2017 graduate and software engineer for Renaissance Learning in Wisconsin Rapids. Her husband, Robert Vanden Boogart, is also a 2017 UWSP computer information system alum and software engineer at Sentry.
Neela Sardar, a 2019 graduate and a software engineer for Microsoft in Washington state, said she and Sheela took on a motherly role for their younger sister when she moved to Stevens Point. “We are so proud of her accomplishments,” she said. “She will do great things in the world.”
Sardar hopes to find a job working in software at Renaissance Learning Inc., where she was an intern, and looks forward to a career in software engineering and artificial intelligence programming in the U.S.
Sardar has enjoyed the friendly Midwestern culture, but there is another reason she loves living here.
“The cheese is the best part,” she said. “I love cheese curds.”
She would encourage international students seeking an education abroad to come to UW-Stevens Point. “You will get one-on-one attention, it’s more affordable and it’s in a small, welcoming community,” she said.
“Every opportunity here helped me grow. I couldn’t have done it without the support from my family and the family I found here.”
