Abdul Latif Sardar

Happiness is never about getting and having more, it is about being content with who you are and what you have, while striving to make things better for yourself and the people around you. Our very own Abdul Latif Sardar (Admin Staff) is one of the people who lives by this principle. Growing up with his parents and five siblings, he had a wonderful childhood in Naogaon. His family lives in Gazipur, where he has a home of his own, and he misses them quite often.

He lived and worked in Malaysia for five years after receiving his BSc from Naogaon, but could not resist the call of that tether that binds us all to where we are born. He joined BRAC University in 2003 and has served dilligently since the first batch. He started his career as a librarian, but later moved to the information office. For the last two years he has been in-charge of the auditorium.

Latif bhai believes that education and learning are a never-ending journey, and over the years has taught himself many things. He fondly reminisced of the first years of his job, when he was tasked with maintaining 40 computers inside the library lab. He never let his off-peak hours go to waste, and taught himself MS Office, Bijoy Keyboard, AVRO keyboard and the use of many other software. He says, “Back in those days, there were students who did not even know how to operate a computer. I helped them with it. We shared our knowledge and learned together”. Courtesy of having worked for the information office for more than 10 years, he was once very well acquainted with all the students that pass through the BRACU gates every semester. “There was a time when I knew all our students – from fresher to graduate, you need to come to the information office at least once. I even knew many of their IDs by heart.” Despite the boom in student population, he still recognizes a lot of students by name, especially those who work for different clubs and visit the auditorium often.

His working shift starts at 8 in the morning, and he stays as long as there are programs and events that require his attention. Since he manages the auditorium, he gets the chance to attend the myriad of programs that take place every week. He lamented the fact that students seem more interested to attend cultural programs than seminars that can teach them important life skills or impart useful knowledge, and urged the students to be more proactive in being part of seminars and programs that can help them alongside their studies.

When asked if there were any messages he would like to pass on to the students, he said we must remember that there is no end to learning. We should all aspire to learn something new every day, and not strive for perfection but be happy with what we have and what we can achieve by our own merits. He also implored the importance of being grateful for all the small, simple and sweet things that life brings us.