It was game, set, summit this summer when the Brooklyn College men’s tennis team traded their rackets for hiking boots and did something that only 0.005% of people on Earth have accomplished: reaching the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Led by Bulldogs tennis player Mujibur Rahman Shaad—a psychology major minoring in philosophy who plans to take the Medical College Admission Test—the group scaled Africa’s highest peak on August 20 after a weeklong trek along the Machame Route. Shaad, who was born in Bangladesh and moved to Brooklyn at age 8, had just completed a Tow International Public Health Internship in Kenya with Columbia University’s ICAP program, where he worked on tuberculosis research using portable AI-assisted X-rays. With Tanzania so close, he saw an opportunity for one more adventure and invited his teammates, as well as his cousin Mizanur Rahman, to join him. “I had been looking at Kilimanjaro even before I left for Kenya,” Shaad explained. “Once I mentioned it, people started getting onboard. We trained hard, from upstate New York to Pennsylvania, and made our plans while I was still abroad.” On summit day, the team began their climb at midnight under the light of headlamps, running on little sleep after a grueling five-hour hike the day before. The final stretch took nearly eight hours as the group battled thin oxygen, rocky terrain, and sheer exhaustion. But when the sun rose over the roof of Africa, the Brooklyn Bulldogs stood together at the peak, exhausted but elated. For Shaad, the climb was about more than adventure. “We’ve all met through the tennis team, and we’re like brothers. Playing tennis has been one of the greatest parts of my college experience, but this was once-in-a-lifetime. It showed us what we can do when we push ourselves, together.” (Left to right) Aymen Kuc, Ryan Badre-Hume, Allen Mardakhayev, and Mujibur Rahman Shaad show off their Brooklyn College Bulldogs pride on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Here is what the group had to say about the incredible experience: “Humility comes in embracing uncomfortable situations. Knowing there will be constant resistance and still persisting to accomplish your goal defines my journey of climbing Kilimanjaro. My favorite part about this trip was that every single one of us sacrificed time, money, and effort to climb it together, and that’s a result of the bond we’ve built playing tennis for Brooklyn College.”—Allen Mardakhaye, a business management and marketing student. “In a world where instant gratification is the norm, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was the opposite; the ultimate delayed gratification. The mountain taught me patience, discipline, and the value of working toward a long-term vision. I’m forever grateful to have shared the journey from the tennis court to Uhuru Peak with my brothers.”—Ryan Badre-Hume, a psychology student who plans to pursue a medical degree. “Humans are a sum of all their experiences. Seven days of a phenomenal journey with the great people of Tanzania taught me gratitude, present awareness, and a little bit of Swahili:Hakuna matata—meaning ‘no problem,’ analogous to ‘don’t worry, be happy,’ but it conveyed a deeper meaning to me expressing peace, contentment, and presence.”—Aymen Kuc, a health & nutrition sciences and pre-nursing student. While the group has no immediate plans for another climb, Shaad admitted the dream doesn’t end here. “Everest and K2 are goals one day,” he said with a laugh. “The only thing stopping us right now is the money.” From the courts of Brooklyn to the summits of Africa, the Bulldogs continue to prove that teamwork and determination can take you to the highest heights.
