Bangladeshi Student Wins Prestigious Full Scholarship at Hendrix College, USA

Mumtahina Karim Meem from Bangladesh has been awarded the highly regarded Hays Memorial Scholarship at Hendrix College, Arkansas, USA.

Each year, only four students are selected for this fully funded scholarship, which covers tuition, housing, meals, and all other expenses for four years. Among this year’s recipients, three are from the United States, while Mumtahina is the only international awardee. In total, her scholarship is valued at more than 26.5 million Bangladeshi Taka over four years.

Mumtahina left for the U.S. on August 5, and her undergraduate classes in Computer Science began on August 26.

Born in Sarafbhata, Rangunia upazila of Chattogram, and raised in the city, Mumtahina studied at Ankur Society Girls’ High School (SSC) and Kapasgola City Corporation Women’s College (HSC). Her father, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, is a businessman, while her mother, Yasmin Akter, is a homemaker with an MBA in Finance and Banking from the Open University. She also has a younger brother in grade one.

Speaking to Prothom Alo before and after leaving for the U.S., Mumtahina shared that she applied to over 25 American universities and received numerous acceptance letters. Choosing one was difficult, but ultimately, she selected Hendrix College because of the scholarship’s prestige and opportunities.

“I can proudly say I’m one of the four selected,” she said.

Academic and extracurricular excellence

In school and college, Mumtahina consistently ranked within the top 10 of her class. Beyond academics, she actively pursued coding, art, debate, literature, and music, often winning prizes. She believes these extracurricular activities strengthened her university applications.

Hendrix College considers not just academic merit, but also leadership and extracurricular involvement when selecting recipients of the Hays Scholarship.

Interestingly, Mumtahina’s journey into coding began with her mother, who had freelancing experience and skills in programming. When Mumtahina was in grade three, her mother introduced her to coding tutorials on YouTube. Printing her first “Hello World” program sparked her passion. By grade seven, she had built a website for her school, earning praise from teachers.

Despite stereotypes that “technology is for boys,” she pressed forward. In grade nine, she founded her school’s programming club, taught coding to peers, and led her team to win first place nationally. During the pandemic, she built a small robotics lab in her room, buying Arduino kits and sensors with her savings. There, she created projects—including a food-serving robot named Kibo.

A passion for creativity

Alongside technology, art has always been part of Mumtahina’s life. From childhood, she filled her walls with drawings. Although she briefly attended an art school, she preferred freedom over rigid training. Eventually, she built her own small studio at home to paint.

Looking ahead

For Mumtahina, pursuing science, technology, coding, and robotics as a girl in Bangladesh was not without challenges. Many discouraged her, saying her dreams were “too big for a girl.” But with determination—and especially her mother’s support—she continued to push forward.

She hopes to complete her studies in the U.S. and then return to Bangladesh to contribute to her country.