Chauhdury ’27: “A Life-Changing Event”

A challenge is made easier when you understand the good purpose behind it. In only his 3rd Class year, Cadet Abduhu Chauhdury ’27 already values the goal behind the challenge of VMI. He sees his cadetship’s positive effects on his personal and professional character and is inspired by the Institute’s alumni whose lives and careers give him a glimpse of the bright future ahead of him.

Around Thanksgiving furlough last year, after several months of tough days in the Rat Line, Chauhdury had a moment to reflect, and the VMI experience clicked for him. “You learn that everything has a reason. Everything had a purpose,” explained Chauhdury. “There are multiple reasons why you’re doing it, but most of all, you’re doing it for yourself. You’re doing it so that you can become a better person. It’s something that nobody else in this world really goes through anymore. And so you end up realizing how much it changes you compared to others and how far ahead you are in so many ways compared to other people of your age and society.”

Attending VMI would not have been possible for Chauhdury without the financial aid of the Insitute Merit Scholarship and a memorial scholarship. “If I didn’t receive the scholarships I got, I most definitely wouldn’t have been able to come here,” said Chauhdury.

The electrical and computer engineering major from Woodbridge, Virginia, said his scholarships also give him an appreciation for the alumni who, long after graduation, still believe in the type of graduates VMI produces. “It’s amazing what the alumni leaving here can do, and then how much belief they have in the system here, continue to invest in us, because hopefully, we can do the same things they’ve done when we leave here.”

As an Institute Scholar wearing academic stars, Chauhdury takes his studies seriously. He enjoys the quality education and the research and study available to him in the engineering department because of alumni support. “Ask any professor here … the alumni investments really make a difference in not only their research [but also the] the quality of the department’s education.”

Managing the demands of the engineering program, ROTC, and daily Corps life hasn’t been easy, but the life skills required to daily meet these challenges is what Chauhdury knows is preparing him for a sucessful future. “You become very resilient. You’re able to go into anything and able to do it,” said Chauhdury, who called this part of the “doer mindset” of a cadet.

“VMI really prepares us for the future. We don’t produce lazy people. We don’t produce people who are ordinary. We produce five-star generals, we produce governors. … VMI is all about is producing people who are not ordinary.” Chauhdury also added that the leadership development of the class system and the Honor Code were a major part of preparing himself and his brother rats for an exceptional future.

The idea that alumni who have never met him are investing in his and others’ futures continues to impact and motivate Chaudury. “I think the reason why that money is put toward investing in us in the first place is because they have a belief that we’re going to go out there and we’re going to take what we’ve learned from this unique system and actually put forth doing great things in society. … They’ve never seen me, but they put that much money toward me.”

In thinking about his future, Chaudury looks forward to commissioning into the U.S. Army after graduation and dreams of creating his own engineering firm one day. Whatever his future holds, he is already thinking about how he can follow the example of VMI alumni and invest in cadets like himself as an alum. “My biggest thing is I want to definitely give money back when I leave here,” said Chauhdury.

“It is definitely a life-changing event to be here, and so continuing to have that belief in the magic of this place … is why you would come back and invest. I have that same belief that this place definitely is deserving of constant investment.”