Source: Prabir Das

Over the last few years, young people have been proud builders of a distinguished generation -- in many ways. The two biggest obstacles young people face is poverty and illiteracy, for which life gets a lot harder for most.

Jasmin Akhter is one, who can inspire a lot of people as she overcame these obstacles and much more on her own. Coming from a lower middle class background, Jasmin proved to everyone around her that if you have the will, you will find a way.

“When I was little, I wanted to be in the corporate world. But very soon I had a harsh reality check when I realised that the world was not a bed of roses. But even after that, I never gave up on my dreams,” says Jasmin. After completing her SSC and HSC from Tangail, she came to realise that if she wants to study further she needs to help her mother, working as a cleaning lady in an office. She says, “I took my first job as a security guard at an international organisation and got admitted in the Business department of Bangladesh University.”

Though it got very hectic for Jasmin, she continued her job for which she could pay her tuition fee. “For two years, I worked and studied for 17 hours," she says. "However, as I saw a huge burden lifting off of my mother, I was happy. I learned a lot from my job, especially how to deal with people,” says Jasmin.

Currently, she is working as a call centre operator at a telecom company and has also completed her BBA. Very soon, Jasmin will be pursing an MBA degree. “Looking back on my childhood, if there is a person, without whom I could not have gotten this far, is my mother. The support I got from her was enormous,” says Jasmin.