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[ad_1] এই নিবন্ধটি বাংলায় পাওয়া যায় The story is about a girl next door from Bangladesh who found the most passionate place to volunteer. The way I received love and value in a community is a story in itself, aside from receiving financial and geographical freedom.  Let us begin by discussing the reason behind my strong desire to start and continue contributing to WordPress. I am Mumtahina Faguni, born and living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dhaka is our capital city and because of that, there is tons of opportunity for everyone to explore and execute. Fortunately, my volunteerism was first sparked during my school years. Like the phrase ‘Born Leader’ there is a term popular in my community: ‘Born Volunteer’. And I proudly acclaim that I am one.  I was involved in organizing a lot of school events and acts. I adored participating in projects that reflect my values and strengths. Volunteering is like recharging my energy battery; the more I do, the more energy I have.  When I entered university, I was overwhelmed by the introduction of tons of volunteer groups for versatile purposes. There was a volunteer group to help needy people with winter clothes, a group for donating blood, a group for helping to grow underrepresented communities, and so on. A few days later, I found out there were volunteer groups related to my field of study, computer science and engineering. Notable ones were the Mozilla Makers community, Women in Tech, Open Source Network groups, and many more. As time went on, a variety of factors, including differences in operation style, caused me to lose interest easily. I didn’t get the ‘should keep contributing’ vibe from here. And after a few days, I backed out of these and kept being active in other volunteer groups.  Since I have not mentioned WordPress’ name in my narrative yet, let us move on to our first exchange. Back in my university days, I knew WordPress only as a PHP framework that provided many no-coding functionalities for users. So, I used WordPress only to complete my project. At that time, I wasn’t introduced to the WordPress world, so I didn’t get the chance to explore more. Years later, in 2019, I heard for the first time that WordCamp was happening in my city, Dhaka. I had no idea it had anything to do with WordPress; I assumed it would be some sort of tech fair. But, attending the first WordCamp changed all my assumptions.  I got introduced to the most buzzing community, the WordPress community. On that day, I discovered a world full of amazing career opportunities, networking, making new friends, and other things, as well as how to start contributing to WordPress. Ever since WordPress has captured my heart, I have been learning a lot about it.  The biggest power of the WordPress community is that it accepts all kinds of diversity and gives a sense of belonging to the community. The community structure is so organized that anyone can start contributing at any time and age they want. Even if you take a break, the community will welcome you again with warmth. There is no discrimination; everybody helps and cheers you on. If you have new, out-of-the-box ideas to implement, you will always get support from the community. These factors inspired me to commit to making a contribution to WordPress. How WordPress Brings My Dreams and Manifestations to Life Here, I want to shed light on what I gained from WordPress. Growing up, the most common childhood dreams in my native Bangladesh were to become engineers, doctors, or pilots. I was no exception. I grew up, holding these dreams close to my heart. At a certain point, when I had to choose one option from the above three, I chose to be an engineer. I started dreaming that I would go to a beautiful European country for my higher studies, or be a tech crew of the National Geographic channel, and whatnot. Back at that time, on a lazy afternoon, while I was thinking about what I dreamed of and what I’m now, I got the answer from my inner self about what I really wanted. I want to travel, explore, and meet new people and cultures.  Being a pilot would give me the power to explore new horizons. Similar benefits I would receive if I worked as a government doctor include the opportunity to visit new areas and cities and help people. If I had to summarize all of my childhood fantasies in one sentence, it would be that I wished to fly and transcend boundaries.  I was always enthralled by the line from the movie Forrest Gump: “Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far, far away.”  However, realizing dreams and making them come true is not a simple process. Processing paperwork and managing finances from my home country takes time. In addition, I needed to find employment quickly. Thus, life took place. And continuing one after another event, my dreams got shadowed.  When I learned about WordCamps, I burst with joy. WordCamp is the kind of event that will allow me to socialize with new people, make friends, and venture beyond my comfort zone. Since that moment, I’ve started manifesting. How can I be a part of a WordCamp? How to attend a WordCamp outside my city; I started wondering about these. And it took me three years to attend WordCamp Kolkata 2022, the event I eventually joined. It was one of the happiest days of my life when I got selected as a volunteer for WordCamo Kolkata 2022. My WordCamp adventure continued after that. Now I have WordCamp Asia 2023, WordCamp Sylhet 2023, and WordCamp Sylhet 2024 in my sack.  Additionally, I will be an organizer at WordCamp Asia 2025, which is coming up soon. When I shared this latest news of my life, I was showered with wishes and love. Also, I heard I got lucky, as I was able to

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