After two years of studying management and marketing at the Costello College of Business and the Honors College at George Mason University, Rakibul Alam’s academic credits have put him a semester ahead of schedule.
Now planning to graduate in December of 2025, Alam has been working at an accelerated rate both inside and outside of the classroom. He saw how many opportunities George Mason had to offer, and he was keen to take advantage of as many of them as possible. Among his accolades so far are being named an Honors College Professional Development Fellow, co-founding the Collective Organizations of South Asia, serving as senator in the George Mason Student Government, being a student ambassador for the Costello College of Business, receiving the Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship, and being named the Schwartzstein First-Year Research Award Finalist for his research project, “Coastal Bangladesh: the Effect of High Soil Salinity & Sustainable Agriculture.”
Coming in his freshman year as a commuting student, Alam wanted to learn about the student body and find ways in which he could immediately get involved and feel at home at George Mason. The first group he joined was the Bengali Patriots Association, where he quickly became the freshman representative and most recently the treasurer. “Within the first two weeks, I also learned there was an election for student government,” he says. “I ran for election, and I won and have served as senator the past two years. Everything kind of spiraled from that.” Through the student government, he was also appointed as a student ambassador for the Costello College of Business. As a Costello College of Business ambassador, he’s interacted with and presented to students, prospective students, community partners, and even the Board of Trustees. The position has empowered him to build and expand on his skillsets as he showcases what it means to be a Costello College of Business student. Recently, he’s shifted his ambassador focus to marketing and has been creating social media content to engage the student body, reaching nearly 50,000 views.
This past April, Alam’s startup company, Project Hope, co-owned and established by management and entrepreneurship student Naila Ahsan, was awarded the top prize in Social Impact at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Patriot Pitch Competition. “Our campaign endeavors to furnish annual provisions of safe, sustainable, reusable sanitary napkins to marginalized communities,” he says. “In Bangladesh, 85% of the menstruating population cannot afford necessary menstruating products. Therefore, we are on a mission to end period poverty.” Presenting the prize check to Alam and Ahsan was Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA ’94, an individual whom Alam now considers a mentor. Always proactive in getting involved and making connections, Alam connected with Shrivastava and Christine Landoll, director of business engagement at the Costello College of Business, at several events across the university. Receiving the Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship opened even more doors for him. The scholarship is awarded to students who are contributing to diversity and inclusion through their leadership roles. Rakibul Alam is an exemplary Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion scholar.
While Alam has taken advantage of the myriad opportunities at George Mason, like with Project Hope, he has also identified and worked toward introducing new solutions and initiatives where he sees a need. He did this when he co-founded the Collective Organizations of South Asia. “The South Asian community was so strong, but it was very dispersed, and our goal was to unify under the organization,” he says. “Our main objective was to provide scholarships for South Asian students.” He is currently their vice president of internal affairs.
In addition to the organizations where he is an active member, Alam enjoys participating in events put on by others across campus. “Going to so many different cultural events helps make you a global leader,” he says. “Companies are very represented all over the world, so having that global understanding is very important.” From the get-go, he came into George Mason with a vision of using the university’s diverse resources to make his student experience as rewarding as possible. Furthermore, this summer he will be interning at the Pentagon with the United States Department of the Navy as a financial management intern. Only two years in, he has a resume stacked with accomplishments, a network connecting him with esteemed business leaders, and the drive to put all of his goals within reach.