Neloy Shome Interview Report

I had the pleasure of interviewing Neloy Shome on Sunday, February 12th at J&B Coffee in Lubbock, Texas for fifty minutes. Throughout our conversation, he struck me as a headstrong and focused young man who is interested in learning more about the world around him and finding positivity wherever he goes. When I asked what would be a mission statement for his life, he said that he lives day by day making the most of each moment to become better.

When I first sat down with Brian, it was very apparent that he is shaped by the example set by his parents, physicians from Bangladesh, and his two older siblings. Neloy cites them as not only his biggest motivation for paving the road for him to achieve his dreams but also instilling in him a purpose
He joined mock trial as a way to improve his public speaking, but ended up enjoying the experience and becoming very involved. His activities serve as the biggest learning lessons he’s had during high school. Two stories from his extracurricular activities exemplify Neloy’s approach to life and his ability to persevere and work toward a purpose. When he started on his school’s academic decathlon team during junior year, he quickly worked to be one of three members on the 8-person team to compete in the state competition. He didn’t make the team, but instead of quitting, he came back the next year ready to work and he is the current team captain. According to Neloy, it was that initial defeat that pushed him to adopt different methods of success in order to be successful. Another story that he shared of resilience was in his mock trial team. They lost a split decision to a team that they felt wasn’t fair to the rules. Neloy rallied the team and wrote a formal opinion to the state coordinator. The coordinator agreed based on appeal to let the team into the state competition as a wildcard