AN HPU ALUMNA'S JOURNEY TO THE WORLD STAGE

Every day, HPU alumna Asmita Barua helps keep one of the world’s biggest institutions moving with precision. As a senior management program analyst in the United Nations (U.N.) Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, she works across systems and cultures, service in a position that she’s held for five-and-a-half years, nearly a quarter-century into an impressive U.N. career. The habits that steady Barua’s work: listening first, reading the room, and choosing the right step forward were set long before she started at the U.N. They began at home in Bangladesh, widened in Tokyo, and solidified at HPU.

Barua was born in Bangladesh, in a family that prized language, learning, and looking outward. When she was seven, her father accepted a position with a publishing company in Japan. She soon moved with her family to Tokyo, the first of many borders she would cross with curiosity and care.

As a child, Barua, the eldest of three, studied Japanese the fun and practical way. “I actually learned Japanese by watching cartoons,” she said, laughing. She attended the American School in Japan, her sister went to Seisen International School, and her brother enrolled in a local Japanese school. As adults, they are scattered across the globe. Barua’s sister has settled in the United Kingdom, and her brother still lives in Japan. Her parents live there as well, about 45 minutes from central Tokyo, and she visits them each year.

When asked what she misses most, she doesn’t hesitate: the fish! “There’s nothing like the fresh fish in Japan,” Barua said.

Hawai‘i came into view the way it often does in Japan: on television, warm blue waters and trade winds. “It looked like paradise,” Barua says. “Close to home, but a new world.” She requested an HPU brochure, applied broadly (including California), and chose HPU, where the city would be part of her classroom.

At HPU, Barua studied for her Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics (BSBA) and found her lane in marketing when an internship at Nike Town turned into a role as a sales specialist and marketing assistant. She lived first in the dorms and later shared an apartment in Waikiki with friends, days immersed in downtown coursework, evenings in a neighborhood humming with energy and beaches.

“It was the best of both worlds,” Barua says. “In a way like NYU, the city as our classroom. Faculty knew students by name and pushed our thinking. All the professors were so supportive, and they always helped me in my studies. Ken Schoolland was great, and he encouraged me to join the Reason Club. I really enjoyed the discussions we had.”

When Barua graduated with her BSBA, she quickly enrolled in the MBA program at HPU, not yet certain where her career would land, but positive a master’s degree would be a wise decision. Two classes in, curiosity tugged.

“I made a spontaneous decision to move to L.A. I’d never been before,” she says. “At the airport I thought, ‘What have I done?’ But I needed a change, to see something new and challenge myself. I didn’t want to regret not trying.” Barua transferred from position at Sephora in Ala Moana Center to a Los Angeles store, explored the city and job market, and kept a promise to finish her master’s degree.

Then, by chance, a friend mentioned the U.N., and everything changed. A Japanese-speaking public information specialist role had opened in New York, just months after 9/11. Barua applied and took a chance.

“I went to New York in November for an interview and I did not know what to think, fresh out of college,” she says. “I went back to L.A. and thought, they will never call me. I was not really prepared. I was not sure at the time what I wanted to do. But there was something in me that drove me forward.”

In January 2002, the call came! “Could I start in four days?” Barua remembered. “I was shocked! I called my dad, and he said to go for it. So, I went.”

Her first assignment became a front-row education in global civics: one-hour guided tours, in English and Japanese, through the chambers, offices, and departments that keep the world in conversation. From there, she followed opportunity through 13 U.N. offices. The U.N. Joint Staff Pension Fund; the Department of Management; the U.N. Democracy Fund; the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management; and the Office of the Secretary-General, among others.

While working full time, she fulfilled on that promise to herself years before and completed her master’s degree, switching programs and earning a Master of Arts in Organizational Change (MAOC) degree from HPU, graduating in 2007.

“It was great. HPU professors really take the time to ensure that their students are doing well, understand their studies, and excel,” Barua said. “I learned a lot in those classes, and its coursework I use today. HPU is the ideal environment to deepen your understanding of diversity and culture, while building genuine, lifelong friendships. HPU offers a wide range of courses that I enjoyed taking. If you appreciate diversity, a friendly learning environment, HPU is the place to pursue your education. I discovered that it was not just me who had lived in different countries, the other students all had different backgrounds, and that is the magic about HPU. We are all in the same classroom, in the same University.”

Years later, the work called her farther afield. While serving in the Office of the Secretary-General, Barua saw an opening with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia, Assistant to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Mogadishu. She accepted in 2015 and arrived on Christmas Eve.

The next day, militants infiltrated the compound.

“I was doing my laundry,” Barua says, “and I heard a loud bang and shooting. I went to my room and closed my door. Security banged on the door, and we rushed into the bunker. We stayed in the bunker for seven and a half hours that day.”

Almost every other day brought new threats. Helmets and vests by the bed, lights out at 6:30 p.m.

“But as risky as it was, I felt that I was learning a lot,” she said. “Our colleagues were supportive, and it was an experience I knew I would appreciate when looking back.” She completed her first year and extended for a second year.

Today, Barua’s work draws on everything that came before: Bangladesh roots, Tokyo childhood, Honolulu classrooms, New York corridors, a mission that demanded clarity under pressure.

“The education at HPU has prepared me for this career path,” Barua said. “It equipped me with a strong, versatile foundation in business administration and helped me develop into a well-rounded professional with diverse knowledge and perspectives.”

Nearly 25 years in, she still finds joy in simple constants.

“I truly appreciated exploring the nature of Hawai‘i, going on hikes,” she says. “Spending time outdoors makes me happy and gives me a sense of peace, calm, and perspective. In Hawai‘i, you can drive 30 minutes and be in nature. That is spectacular about Hawai‘i, and HPU is really in the center of that beauty.”

From Bangladesh beginnings to a Tokyo childhood, from an HPU education woven into the streets of Honolulu to United Nations halls (and, at times, bunkers) Asmita Barua’s journey shows what HPU can set in motion: the confidence to take smart risks, the skills to serve on a global stage, and a community that keeps opening doors for the next student ready to say “yes.”