Written by Davidson College student, Ceyda Yesillik ‘28
Have you ever wanted to create something bigger than yourself? Numa Jannat ‘27 did. She was on a Zoom call with two childhood friends last year, when they realized nobody was sharing the international student experience online. After going to high school together, Numa and her friends, Meher Nega and Jarefah Nawer Rahman, all went to college in three different countries. Away from those you know best, studying abroad can feel isolating. Numa and friends figured out they could kill two birds with one stone, keep up with each other’s lives and make people feel like they’re not alone through an authentically relatable podcast. 
Numa is an international student from Bangladesh and a junior at Davidson College. She is an economics and psychology double major, and has always had a passion for content creation. She ran a home bakery in Bangladesh in high school posting blogs, pictures and videos. She was also the social media chair for Davidson College’s International Student Association last year. With her deep interest in social media, she knew she had to give the podcast idea a try. But, in an over-saturated market such as the podcast space, people wouldn’t listen without seeing professional production. Thanks to the support from the Hurt Hub@Davidson through the Try It Fund, she was able to buy equipment for the podcast, where she and her two friends talk about their shared experiences.
Golpo But It’s True, is a podcast young girls can finally relate to. When the hosts share their most vulnerable moments, you literally feel like a part of the friend group. Golpo means story in Bangla, Numa’s native language. The name of the podcast highlights how true their stories are, even though they might sound like fiction.
Opening up about personal matters doesn’t always come easily to Numa, but having co-hosts who are brutally honest with one another has helped the podcast thrive. When editing the podcast and deciding which parts stay, the comfort they have to freely express their opinion makes the episodes so much better. Sometimes when one of them second-guesses whether to include something a bit too vulnerable, the others are there to offer perspective and encouragement to help snap out of their heads and remind each other why authenticity matters so much to the podcast. And this authenticity really matters to their followers, it’s one of the only places on the internet where they are hearing about unfiltered daily experiences. It’s also comforting for the hosts to see the responses of their audience sharing similar stories and sentiments. The podcast really creates a sense of community.
Numa and her co-founders created the representation they wanted to see in the world, and the community they built is proof of why putting yourself out there matters. Numa’s advice to other students is, if you have an itch to create, just do it. “The fear of being cringe holds us back from being our true self”, says Numa.
You can keep up with Golpo But It’s True on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Spotify.
The Try It Fund has been made possible through generous support from the Charlie Hinnant ’72 Fund, Davidson alums, and other community sponsors. If you are a Davidson College student who is interested in exploring an idea we encourage you to apply! Applications open the first day of each semester and close at 10pm EST the last day of fall or spring break, depending on the semester.
