“My undergraduate experience has taught me there’s always a way through”

Rayan Rahman knows a thing or two about perseverance.

A citizen of Bangladesh who grew up in Saudi Arabia, he first arrived in Canada in 2013 to study in McMaster’s Life Sciences program. Also a first-generation student, he brought with him both the hopes of his family, and high expectations for himself.

Like many international students, Rahman’s path wasn’t an easy one. He battled loneliness, financial hardship and culture shock, but he also learned valuable lessons along the way.

“My undergraduate experience taught me that there’s always a way through,” says Rahman whose hard work, resourcefulness and determination helped him carve out a unique path of his own.

This week, Rahman graduates from McMaster’s Honours Life Sciences Co-op program, the culmination of a journey that began seven years ago when his mother first suggested he apply to universities in Canada.

“My mother had a friend who had immigrated to Canada as a permanent resident and they helped me with the application process,” explains Rahman. “I was accepted to a number of other universities, some of which offered me scholarships, but it was just my intuition that I should go to McMaster.”

Rahman arrived on campus in 2013 to begin his studies. He did well in his courses and even found a job on campus working for Housing and Conference Services to help lighten his financial load. He made friends and joined the McMaster Muslim Student’s Association – but it wasn’t long before the loneliness set in.

“I felt homesick all the time,” he recalls. “On campus, I used to see other students going home on weekends then, when their parents would drop them off on Sunday, I used to see them, and my heart would sink.”

To make matters worse, Rahman’s plans to go home to Saudi Arabia that summer fell through. Instead, he moved to an off-campus residence and spent most of the summer alone.

“That was my lowest point, he says. “It was during the month of Ramadan, so I was fasting in the long summer days. I would go in the evening to pray in T13, so I would see people there and I would go to the gym, but that was pretty much it.”

As difficult as this was, Rahman would soon be faced with an even more pressing, and completely unforeseen, challenge.

In 2014, global oil prices plummeted, causing a serious downturn for the Saudi economy and deeply impacting many Saudi businesses, including Rahman’s father’s. As a result, Rahman’s family couldn’t afford his tuition and Rahman was forced to delay paying his academic fees.

Though he was able to continue his studies in the meantime, Rahman – now in the Chemical Biology program – was financially stretched, was worried for his family back home, and also faced a documentation problem, all of which took a heavy toll both emotionally and academically.

“It had a serious impact on my studies – on my motivation to study and to get my assignments done,” says Rahman who, at this time, was struggling to keep up in his courses. Also, his financial situation in particular was causing him constant anxiety. “In Canada, you can have a line of credit or credit cards, then you can work to pay it off, but I didn’t have that option,” he says. “Whatever money I could make, that’s what I had to live on.”

Despite his challenges, and guided by his faith, Rahman says he was determined to find a way through.

“As a first-generation student, I was telling myself ‘I don’t want to waste this opportunity. I can’t give up, just keep going.’”

So, he began looking for ways to support himself and found a steady job at McMaster’s Parking Services Office which helped him make ends meet. He also learned about the Faculty of Sciences’ co-op program.

“My friend had this idea about being in co-op, to work and make some money, but also to learn more about what I want to do in life,” says Rahman. “I applied to the co-op program and got accepted. And that was the turning point in my undergrad.”

By now, his family was able to pay his academic fees from the previous year which meant Rahman could register for courses and start applying for co-op positions. His first placement was at the Region of Peel, where in combination with his job at Parking Services, he made enough money to rent his first apartment and even buy a car, allowing him to commute to Mississauga from Hamilton.

That year, he was also able to return home to Saudi Arabia. “I felt connected to my family,” he says. “And when I came back, I had this energy in me. I felt focussed. It helped me in my studies – it was the best year of my undergrad.”

Feeling restored, he once again began applying to co-op positions, this time landing a placement at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) working in emergency management, where he was so successful his placement was extended from eight months to 12.

Rahman says his experience at OPG has inspired him to pursue a career related to the nuclear industry and next fall, he hopes to begin his master’s degree in nuclear engineering at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

He says that, while the last several years have been challenging, they have also served to strengthen his faith and given him sense of accomplishment and confidence, things he’ll be able to take with him as he leaves McMaster’s and starts the next chapter of his life.

His advice for other international students?

“Every individual’s situation is different, but my advice would be don’t give up,” he says. “If you’re in Canada as an international student, then you are privileged. In Canada, there is always a way through, you just need to work hard and find a way.”