July 14th, 2005 has been erased from my memory. Sometimes I wonder if I ever lived through that day. I walked out of the American Consular’s office, chest bursting with joy. The rest of that day has been lost in the blissful abyss of that moment. I try and remember why I was so happy that day. The document I held in my hand meant that in a month, I’d be leaving my home, my family, my friends, my country for a strange yet all too familiar land.
The document in my hand reflected my past and promised a future that I knew would be hard and daunting. But that document also meant that I was from that moment independent; and free to form my own destiny. That alone is a vague consolation for my irate happiness that day. America to me had always been a myth. It to me symbolized a promise land. A land of dreams and opportunity, were people were judged by the weight of their character and not by their social bearings. It is a land that promised prosperity, to anyone willing to flirt with destiny. I obliged and a month later laden with brimful of dreams, I arrived in Dubuque with a future full of opportunities and unexpected experiences.
Four years in Loras College has shaped me to be a good reflective thinker, active learner, ethical decision maker and a responsible contributor to the local community.
Four years, many paychecks, classes and a revolution later, I sit here describing my most memorable experience from my time in Loras College. And yet I wonder if any such experience or transition into American culture has taken place.
America to be honest hasn’t been unexpected. The big cars, high standard of living, greasy food, the unyielding prosperity is what everybody writes about. But didn’t we expect it in the first place? What have I seen here that I hadn’t already in a movie, or read in a book? You have to only take a look around the world to notice that half the world is Americanized. So what is there to transit into? We were already half Americans before we came here in the first place. A transition is for when you are thrown into a completely new culture, where your human instincts are your only alibi.
Yet it wouldn’t be justified to claim that no memorable experience or transition has taken place. I look back at my 4 years here and the feelings that I went through, and realize that I am not the same person that landed at Chicago that windy August midnight. Everything I go through takes me past these rain drenched streets, to back home where my heart lies.
It is funny that I had to travel half way around the world into a foreign land to realize how beautiful, pure and untouched my country is. That has been the irony for I have transitioned not into an American but more into a Nepali.
I see big cars zooming by and miss those noisy streets back home, the horns, the commotion, and those cows that wandered into the streets. I see nice houses and lavish lawns and remember those huts, those slums where people lived in utter poverty but love. I hear church bells toll and remember those frantic chimes of temple bells, the elderly worshiping at dawn, their purity which I(until now) had always scorned and questioned.
I walk into the ARC and find myself back to my high school library, but a couple of isolated racks holding Nepali literature books (that I never bothered venturing into) are gone. Yet my eyes still search for that isolated corner. The prosperity the seethes through everything here, resounds with the echo of the woes my ailing nation. The cry of a mother land whose sons and daughters choose to abandon her in their yearning for prosperity.
Being an alien, reminds me of the profoundness of my own culture. Suddenly the constant warnings, which I had always considered pointless banters by scholars back home about the ills of westernization has sprung into life. It is funny that I had to travel half way around the world into a foreign land to realize how beautiful, pure and untouched my country is. That has been the irony for I have transitioned not into an American but more into a Nepali.
There have been many unforgettable experiences during my time in Loras but realizing about my country, my culture, and my identity the harsh way has been the most memorable experience of all. Thus, knowing about Nepal and what it means to be a Nepali stands as the most inspirational experience for me in my time in America.
Four years in Loras College has shaped me to be a good reflective thinker, active learner, ethical decision maker and a responsible contributor to the local community. From learning to interpret information by new ideas to being a student manager to introducing new sports in college and helping resolve issues between people, I have grown as a person. Working as a Student Manager for the Campus Food Service Area (Aramark) has helped me a long way in developing my leadership, management, communication and administrative skills. Furthermore, though I am Finance major, I believe Loras has helped me found my passion for future. Thus, I have a high hope of doing Masters in Sports Administration or Management as I have a firm belief that my future lies in sports either cricket or football (soccer).
I would like to help people with disabilities like mine (diagnosed as “bilateral sensory neural hearing loss”) find their hope too, who knows they may be able to catch their ray and then discover that life is beautiful after all.
I have understood the values of being a well rounded person and grasp the idea of the four principles of Loras College. With each passing day in Loras, and being denied to watch the games my love for these sports has only grown stronger. I have read number of articles, gone through huge statistical data to keep myself occupied and well informed about cricket and football. Moreover, being student manager has helped me to exhibit insight and take into account my own character and prejudice as I have thought creatively and critically. I believe over various experiences in class and work, I have met the four criterions that apply for a being a product of Loras College. Loras College has more importantly taught me to be myself, trust in my instincts and develop my own way of thinking and analyzing things. Thus, I feel proud to be a student of Loras College and will forever be grateful for the opportunities Loras provided me in shaping my career and future. Last but not the least, I feel can I pursue my dreams and shape my career by pursuing Masters in Sports Administration or Business.
Everyone makes promises about doing great things for their country after gaining proper international education. But I would be glad if I could make a small difference in the lives of many people like me who have been forced to live with their handicap due to the lack of opportunities. I know I have been blessed so far. A supportive family, good friends and wonderful teachers have been guiding me in each and every step of my life. I have been given hope, hope against all odds. Thus with the education and the skills that I will acquire at Loras College, I would like to help people with disabilities like mine (diagnosed as “bilateral sensory neural hearing loss”) find their hope too, who knows they may be able to catch their ray and then discover that life is beautiful after all.
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