The most stressful period of my life by far has been the time I sat for my HSC. It was the worst of times, and no, in no way was it the best of times. I sort of scraped through it in 2017, and having had two years to reflect upon (read: recover from) this crazy ordeal, there are a couple of things I'd like to share.

Although some parents are slightly more lenient than others, most of them are very strict about the curfews they impose on their children. We have all had to deal with curfews and questions like ''Where are you going?

We are familiar with the fact that whether we like it or not, we are hard wired to learn new things. From learning a new language or a new subject to learning

The way we interact with each other has changed and taken many faces in the passing of time. Cavemen wrote on walls and used different sounds that would seem unfathomable to us but somehow made sense to them.

Josephite Debating Club (JDC) hosted their second inter-school debating tournament titled “JDC Eloquence 2019” from March 21-23, 2019 at the St. Joseph Higher Secondary School campus in Asad Gate, Dhaka.

On March 19, 2019 the formal inauguration programme of the year-long Public Library Campaign “Cholo Gronthagare Cholo, Dekhi Somvabonar Alo” by British Council's Libraries Unlimited Programme and the Department of Public Libraries was held at the conference room of the Sufia Kamal National Public Library, Dhaka.

First National Biotechnology Summer School organised by National Institute of biotechnology (NIB) and Young Biotechnologists of Bangladesh, was recently held at Chattogram. Twenty-seven universities and twenty-five organisations participated in the event. Bangladeshi scientist and professor, Haseena Khan inaugurated the event. Vice Chancellor of University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC), Professor Nurul Absar, attended the event as the chief guest, whereas chairperson of Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Zeba Islam Seraj, attended as a special guest.

Gregorian English Language Club organised their second National English Carnival-with title sponsor BBS Cables recently. The carnival witnessed the participation of enthusiastic students from more than 40 institutions including the prestigious Cadet Colleges across the city. With 17 mega events and a record of around 4000 participants, this carnival was successful in bringing many English language enthusiasts under one roof. This year’s slogan ‘The Art of Communication is the Language of Leadership’ inspired students to embrace the English language as a way of reaching out across the globe.

“Think equal, build smart, innovate for change” is the slogan for International Women’s Day 2019. The cornerstone of this year’s theme predominantly focuses on innovation that would concern the advancement of gender equality, fundamentally leading to women empowerment. The modules that have been signifised particularly include social protection system, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.

The National Finale of Famelab 2019, hosted by British Council, took place on March 23 in The Westin Dhaka. Famelab, the world’s leading science communication competition, requires each contestant to present a STEM topic of their choice with content, clarity and charisma in three minutes, using props.

Born in 1983, Nahida Nahid completed her graduation in Bangla Language and Literature from Jahangirnagar University. Besides teaching at Comilla University, she has also done extensive academic research on Bangla Literature. Her first book, Olokar Fu,l was published in 2017, followed by her book, Juthochari Adharer Golpo, in 2018, which won the Kali O Kolom Young Poet and Writers’ award that year. Her latest book, Purush Paat, narrates nine stories, focusing on men in contrast to their societal gender roles.

All across the world, women are stepping out of the safe confines of their homes to explore unknown cities, countries and continents.

Prabhudan Halder Dino's Love, Education and Food (LEF) for Life is a school that has been providing underprivileged children with education, food and vocational training since 2001. Over 300 children are schooled under the organisation. Besides literacy, LEF for Life teaches these children different life and leadership skills.

Ma Cartoon

Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) celebrated 100th birthday of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Children's Day 2019 with a discussion at BUBT Hall Room, Rupnagar, Dhaka on March 18, 2019.

On many occasions I have sat down with a vision in my head to draw something but every time I picked up the pencil or the brush to paint, I failed miserably.

My love for not leaving my bed coupled with my crippling social anxiety has made home delivery my number one go-to for any kind of purchase. Be it food, clothing, or beauty products, you can bet your hopefully-more-active-butt-than-mine that I won't be heading out to physically buy any of it.

“What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore, it knows it's not foolin' a soul.” – Neil Gaiman.

The truth behind the thoughts I find, Lying around in my disarrayed mind,

She was sitting in a darkened room with music blaring loudly. It was some cheesy romantic song. *Ping*. It was a message notification on Facebook.