The Man, The Myth, The Mishal

When 11-year-old Mishal Mustaque moved to the United States from Bangladesh, he had no idea what kind of a cultural shock was in store for him.

“Of course it did not help that we moved to Kansas, a state that’s unheard of quite literally,” he said humorously when talking about his family’s big move. He describes his new home as a little bland but a nice place to live. Mustaque does not quite remember why they moved from Bangladesh to Kansas all those years ago but he believes it probably has something to do with better opportunities in the states. Luckily for Mustaque, he was taught English at his school in Bangladesh so that was one less cultural shift he had to worry about.

One of the reasons Mustaque’s family was able to move was because he had extended family in Kansas who sponsored his mother, which he explained having such a strong support system made the cultural shift a lot easier for his family. Along with his extended family, Mustaque has an older sister who has graduated from college and currently lives in Iowa.

Now Mustaque is a 19-year-old student at Saint Louis University. Mustaque, like most college students, is not totally sure what he wants to do when he graduates. He has not even declared a major. Originally, thinking about majoring in finance, but then his family wanted him to major in engineering. “They believe it is more of a stable career path,” he explained. Even with his family’s advice, Mustaque, after taking exploratory classes in both majors, is leaning more towards a major in Finance and a minor in Math.

Mustaque has adapted well to college life and has even gotten involved on campus. He is a regular attendee of the Saint Louis University Chess Club. Mustaque enjoys being a part of the chess club because it is very low stress and he can spend hours playing. He explained the environment of chess club as “low stress, and full of people who know how to crack some jokes.”

He is also an avid sports fan and is able to make use of his devotion by being a sports reporter for the SLU University newspaper. However, Mustaque’s love of sports did not start in college, but he has been a big soccer supporter for as long as he can remember. He even played soccer in high school. “I thought I was good but it turns out, I was meh,” he shrugs as he says this.

Mustaque’s time in high school was kept pretty busy with class but he made time to join the Latin club for three months. He went on to explain that he only attended one Latin club meeting, but that he had taken it for three years in high school. He does not really know why he took it, but he says, “Maybe it was because everyone was taking French or Spanish so why not be different?”

Mustaque has definitely lived a life that is not typical of most incoming college students. From moving to Kansas when he was 11, to taking Latin in high school and then being in the SLU Chess Club, he has found ways to be different in every corner. Looking at his past decisions and accomplishments there is no doubt that he will go on to do unique and interesting things in the future. Mustaque, however, has a modest and humble view about his uniqueness, when asked if there was anything unique about him, he gave a usual witty reply, “I am just a cog in a larger machine.”