At the end of 2019, Barua was accepted to Harvard University, with a scholarship amounting to more than $300,000. He is the second to accept a scholarship from Harvard at HPS, but the first within the Bangladeshi community.<\/p>\n
\u201cRudra is one of those students who really just stands out for all the right reasons\u201d said Hamtramck High School Principal Chis Vraniak. \u201cHe participates in a lot of different extra-curricular clubs, he\u2019s putting in extra time academically, and he\u2019s someone who stood out for grinding to raise his SAT Scores.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barua\u2019s SAT score happened to be 1560. The average score for 2019 was 1060, while a perfect score is 1600. Meaning that Rudra\u2019s score on the SAT was in the top 1% of people tested according to the College Board, the organization that administers the SAT.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not a test score that gets someone into college. Quite a lot goes into the way universities decide who\u2019s accepted and who\u2019s denied. In Barua\u2019s case, it really took more than being a good student to impress colleges.<\/p>\n
Barua said he became involved with a program that connects low-income and high achieving students to educational and scholarship opportunities. The program, known as QuestBridge, helped him understand the importance of highlighting his background as an asset to university communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these students who will go to these Ivy-League Schools, they don\u2019t necessarily come from a diverse background,\u201d Barua said. \u201cSo [college admission boards] really want to hear my story, my background.\u201d<\/p>\n
Superintendent of Hamtramck Public Schools Jaleelah Ahmed said that this diverse background is one of Hamtramck\u2019s biggest assets for its students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s definitely a strength for our students,\u201d Superintendent Ahmed said. \u201cThe more we learn about one another, the more we accept one another, understand one another, the more we can build relationships, build bridges, and be productive citizens in the global market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rudra\u2019s diverse background credits Hamtramck at its center. When his family first arrived in the city from Bangladesh, Rudua said he was still very young. But even from his earliest memories, he said he knew Hamtramck was home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents thought when they came to America that we wouldn\u2019t necessarily fit in,\u201d Barua said. \u201cHowever, when we came into Hamtramck, we were already a part of this big community that already accepted us. And I always felt comfortable here, even though we\u2019re a minority in America, we\u2019re not necessarily a minority here because of everyone around us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, it\u2019s Barua\u2019s relationship with his family that he says made the biggest difference in how he looked at school. He says his father would come late from work tired.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he\u2019d go back the next day, every day,\u201d Barua said. \u201cI saw this, this work ethic. And it had a profound impact on me. I started to see what the American Dream was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The American Dream has a heavy influence on him. And he admits that it\u2019s different from person to person. Barua\u2019s is to help the people around the community reach the same goals that have been attainable to him.<\/p>\n
And in Hamtramck, where poverty can be difficult to come out of and cultural boundaries exist for a few, Rudra says all this can stop people \u201cdead in their tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that I find myself in this situation where I did get accepted to an Ivy-League college, I want to be that type of person who, if my underclassmen want my help, if they want to dream big, I will help them dream big,\u201d Barua said.<\/p>\n
Having a student go to an elite university is important for a school district. In one way, it allows other students to see that it is possible. That people in the same circumstances were able to do it before.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/CF666A97-6122-4E6B-857A-2F0F9CB7E649-1-300x200.jpg\")
Rudra Barua with his Principal at Hamtramck High School, Cris Vraniak. According to Vraniak, Barua is the student with the highest scholarship ever received from any university from Hamtramck.<\/p><\/div>\n
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But it also produces an important piece in a growing network that can make connecting to those universities a lot easier. And Principal Chris Vraniak says that he\u2019d like to foster that connection between the community and Rudra.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my job going forward is to facilitate the use of Rudra to do things that he mentioned doing,\u201d Principal Vraniak said. \u201cTo serve as a mentor, someone who can illuminate the path to get from point A to point B.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for career plans, Barua says his long-term goal is to help people like him. People from underrepresented backgrounds, children of working-class parents, or minorities within the United States. He wants to help people get the same chance that he received.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to tell them they have a chance,\u201d Barua said. \u201cJust work hard and never give up and you\u2019ll have that chance at life. All you have to do is dream big.\u201d<\/p>\n