By Cait Kemp
@caitlinkemp09
A boy’s cries echoed through the halls of his boarding school. His cries shouted to the other end of the phone, where his parents sat crying back to him. The sobbing circulated the call, and blended into one, sorrowful howl.
Day after day, the crying continued like clockwork. The boy was miserable, but his parents knew this was the best opportunity for him to excel in academics. From the age of 10, he was shipped off to not only learn to read and write, but learn to live, at a boarding school. The boy dreaded his time away from home, and yearned to see and hold and cherish his family’s presence.
This isn’t some tale about a character from a far away place. This is the stark reality of the life of Prashant Timalsina, sophomore at Springfield College.
In addition to the distance from home, the academic rigor was intense. Before even attending his boarding school, Timalsina had to prepare for a year with a tutor to be accepted. He was determined, even at a young age.
“I kid you not, I knew all the capital cities of all the countries,” said Timalsina. “I was always good at geography and culture and all that kind of stuff.”
With his hard work and dedication to his academics, he got into the Budhanilkantha School. He went to school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He knew the times tables up to 20 when he was just 10 years old, and by fifth grade he was already learning trigonometry. He and his classmates studied 12 subjects, all of which were advanced compared to curriculums in the U.S.
“I feel like I was intrinsically motivated. My parents are smart, they knew how to make me study without making me feel like they were making me study,” chuckled Timalsina.
After years of the dreading, crying, sleepless nights, he became accustomed to being away. Timalsina was 250 miles away from home for 8 years. At the completion of those strenuous 8 years, he did not go home to his relief. That was not the end of his long-distance journey. He just moved farther. He was now 7,406 miles away from home to continue his education at the next level, at a higher institution that sat almost half a world away.
Timalsina hails from Hetauda, Nepal, located southwest of the capital city Kathmandu. Nepal is situated on the other side of the world from the United States. His journey from the 4,593 foot altitude of his mountainous homeland to the mere 70 foot elevation of Springfield, Mass. has not been a simple one. However, it was always a simple choice to study overseas after finishing his secondary education at boarding school.
At the Budhanilkantha School, the program was planned out specifically for students to go on to receive an education at an institution abroad. It was always the plan for him to travel to Europe or the United States. He had been away from home for this long, what’s a few more years at this point? He was eager to get to a new land to explore and experience.
His first semester enrolled at Springfield College was completed online and remotely from Nepal.
Seems easy enough, right? Log on, turn the camera off and lay in bed while listening to the lecture. Not so much. A 2:45 p.m. class on Monday in Springfield would require Timalsina to log on at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. He took Intro to Programming using Mobile Technology, which was not an easy feat especially before the sun had even risen.
The time difference is extreme between Massachusetts and Nepal. Timalsina was 10 hours and 45 minutes ahead of his fellow classmates, yet was still required to do the same work as them. Among all the difficulties, he still found a way to excel.
Timalsina is truly determined.
The everlasting issue of the world today was not absent in Timalsina’s journey in getting to Springfield College. COVID-19 caused many problems with international travel, among the border disputes that were already taking place around the same time.
Nepal experiences something referred to as “brain drain,” meaning that many educated people leave the country to go elsewhere to study or pursue their career. Because of this, Nepal does not make it easy to receive a visa to leave.
However, Timalsina was, of course, determined.
To finally get his visa, he decided to travel to India. Nepal and India have an open border between the two countries, meaning that citizens of each can travel to and from without the ordinary restrictions that leaving a country often requires. Through the U.S. Embassy in India, he completed a short interview and was almost immediately verified to gain a visa to travel to the United States. It was finally all coming together.
Through his journey, Timalsina is finally where he strove to be. Now, studying as a computer science major, he has even more on his plate.
Yet, it still isn’t enough for him.
“I’m asking the department to get even tougher courses, and we are doing that,” said Timalsina.
“We recently hired a professor last semester and we are hiring a new computer science faculty this upcoming semester so things are evolving in the computer science program and I am really happy about that.”
Not only is he attending school, taking classes, and working toward getting his degree, Timalsina is making it better as he goes. His path is not for the meek at heart, and he is proving his presence in this academic field one step at a time.
In five years, the world will probably see Timalsina at the front of a big tech company. He dreams of getting to the top, doing the best work he can, and then giving back to Nepal and his community back home. However, before he can do that, he wants to make it on his own.
“If you’re not self-sustained, you can’t help others,” Timalsina said.
Since he completed high school and began to think abroad.
Since he was denied a visa in high school to attend a week-long academic program in the U.S.
Since he completed classes online for a semester, over 7,000 miles away.
Since he finally made it to Springfield but experienced a major culture shock.
Since he didn’t feel his program was giving him enough, he vowed to make a change.
Since he never gave up on his arduous journey, advocating for himself so he can be the best.
Timalsina is determined.
Photos courtesy of Prashant Timalsina
Credits:
Photo Courtesy of Prashant Timalsina