By Sean Doyle
A majority of the students on Springfield College’s campus come from the United States, with most of them coming more specifically from the Northeast. For many, getting to Alden Street doesn’t even require a plane ride. Most take a car ride anywhere between 10-300 miles in length. But for Chandani Rana it took three plane rides and two car rides totalling over 7,400 miles to get to campus.
In August of 2019 Rana loaded her few suitcases into the back of a taxi and headed to the airport. As she got closer and closer to the airport the planes that she had seen flying by overhead ever since she was born started to get bigger and bigger as reality continued to sink in of what was ahead of her. She was boldly going where no one from her country had gone before: the first person from Nepal to ever enroll at Springfield College.
She pulled up to the airport drop-off line and began to unload her belongings from the vehicle. Rana said goodbye to her father and entered the first part of her journey ready to face her biggest fear head on, how to not get lost in the airport.
“I was super excited to get to the U.S.,” she said. “I wasn't nervous leaving Nepal, I was nervous that I was gonna get lost in the airport.”
Rana started off her journey by flying from Nepal to Korea. This was the first time that she had ever left Nepal and the first time she had ever taken a flight.
After a layover in Korea, Rana boarded the plane for her longest flight of the trip to Atlanta, Georgia.
“The flight was 13 hours and about halfway to Atlanta I was so tired of being on the plane I just wanted to open the door and jump out,” Rana said.
Shortly after landing in Atlanta, she boarded her final flight to Hartford, Connecticut. It was time.
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Rana entered Springfield College as an environmental science major, which is what ultimately helped her find out about the school.
“I was looking for colleges that had environmental science programs and that’s how I found Springfield College. I emailed the International Center and they got back to me saying ‘oh there is this person (from the International Center) coming to Nepal’ so it was totally a coincidence,” Rana said. “He really liked me and he thought that I'll be a great fit for the college and I think that Springfield College has also been an amazing match for me as well.”
Rana with her emotional support dog Louise enjoying campus at night.
Being the first person in her family to come to the United States and the first person to attend college, Rana wasn’t sure how her parents would react.
“They were okay with it. I was a very independent person and coming to the US is taken as a really amazing thing so they were very happy,” she said.
Rana’s preparation for college was smooth sailing once she received a scholarship from Education USA, which is a network within the U.S. Department of State of international student advising centers in over 170 countries. The program also works with Fulbright which is one of many United States Cultural Exchange Programs that aids in improving intercultural relations between countries.
“They only accept 13 people (Nepali students) so I was one of 13, which is why I didn’t have a visa issue because I was already pre-approved basically,” Rana said.
Once she arrived at Bradley International Airport, Director of the International Center, Deborah Alm, picked up Rana and brought her to campus.
“I was expecting an extraordinary young woman, and I was not disappointed,” said Alm. “Chandani arrived after 30+ hours of travel, still energized and excited to be here. As she had arrived at night, I made a stop on the way to Bradley Airport to pick up some Nepalese food from a restaurant so she could have something comforting. All the way to campus, she was full of questions. It was clear that she had read nearly every page on our college website as she had very specific questions.”
Alm helped Rana settle into her dorm room preparing her for her first day as a Springfield College student.
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Rana’s first day on campus started just like any other first-year student at Springfield College, with New Student Orientation. But it was challenging for her, especially after over 30 hours of travel.
“The whole orientation was very overwhelming to me,” she said. “I literally hid behind a tree at one point. You have jet lag, everything is moving, and then you have to move and sing. It was a lot.”
Although NSO was hard out of the jump, Rana quickly was able to make friends and begin to fit in on campus.
Rana with the YMCA Club at Springfield College at a team building experience
“I was very grateful that…a lot of people here are so welcoming and supportive,” Rana said. “For example my roommate (Rose), the International Center, my supervisor (Nicholas Venn). He’s the one who got me here. He also introduced me to YMCA people because that was my minor….YMCA people are just so so nice. I also met people from the orientation.”
Rana’s roommate Rose was an international student from Vietnam. The two were able to connect on Facebook before coming to Springfield and their first in-person meeting was the day Rana arrived on campus.
“When we arrived on campus, we dragged her heavy bags to her room where her roommate, another international student from Vietnam, was waiting,” said Alm. “They had been communicating long distance for a few weeks, and when they laid eyes on each other, there were hugs and tears of joy. It was a very special moment. This was a scene that would stay with me for a long time: two students 10,000 miles away from home making instant friendships, eager to start a new life and open to the opportunities.”
As Rana’s first semester went on, she continued to gain more friendships, including one with Professor of Composition and Rhetoric and Chair of the Department of Literature, Writing, and Journalism, Anne Wheeler
“Chandani was in the first section of Springfield College seminar that I taught, which was when it was only taken by the honors students during their first semester,” said Wheeler. “She did really terrific work and then she ended up being in my college writing class the second semester. And in that class she continued to do really terrific work. And when you work with somebody you get to know them a bit.”
Rana closed out her first semester strong. Little did she know what was ahead of her.
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In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Rana was stranded. Just like the other international students on campus, the college was closing and she had nowhere to go.
“Flying to Nepal was not allowed,” said Rana. “There were many restrictions and even if I went to Nepal I didn’t know if I would be allowed back and I didn’t want to risk it. We were in mid-spring and I didn’t want to risk doing online classes even though we had to anyway. Back in Nepal it’s like 12 hours different so it would’ve been so hard.”
Rana’s back was against the wall. She couldn’t go home. She didn’t know where she could go or what she would do. Luckily she had plans of going to her friend Lily’s house over what was announced as a two-week extended Spring Break while the college figured out the next steps to take.
That two-week extended Spring Break turned out to be the rest of the semester. As COVID continued to show no sign of going anywhere, Rana’s stay at Lily’s extended as well.
As the spring semester was starting to come to a close, Rana knew she couldn’t stay with Lily all summer. She needed a new plan. She reached out to Professor Susan Joel, Chair of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, who placed Rana in contact with Professor Wheeler.
The two were familiar with each other from classes and had a very professional relationship so Wheeler decided there was a way she could help out.
“At that time my partner Michelle and I had been working at home since March with two full-time jobs and no childcare, Wheeler said. “My daughter was 2 and my son was 6. So we suggested that Chandani move in with us. We had the bedroom space so we kind of hired her with what we could afford to pay her to be our child care for half-days. My kids love young adults. They are really chatty, charismatic children who are happy to meet new people. She’s really good with kids...So she bonded with the kids immediately and was with us through the whole summer.”
The connection that was supposed to last until campus opened back up in the Fall of 2020 has turned into something much more than that.
“It’s basically my second home now. I go there every break,” Rana said. “I’m very grateful that’s how things are to say the least. You know, having a mom and then another mom here. Even though I say I’m not homesick or feel lonely, having that family and support system who’s there no matter what, it just feels great. I feel very loved and cared for.”
“Now I call her my adopted college-aged daughter with another mother,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler has been taking the “another mom” role on in full force. She helps Rana with any issues that might occur, no matter how big or how small. She has even helped Rana improve her mental health.
“I really struggled with my mental health but I never had a counselor before back in Nepal because everything is so stigmatized,” Rana said. “Like when I talk with my mom about my depression she says ‘oh it’s just in your head.’ Of course it’s in my head, that is why I am getting help. But my mom is opening up about it now. She (Prof. Wheeler) helped me find a therapist so it was a turning point in my life.”
Over this past Spring Break I was able to go over and observe Rana at Wheeler’s house and her interactions with Wheeler’s two children. It was like she was a part of the family. When Wheeler’s oldest child, Malcolm, was asked what it was like having Rana around he let out an emphatic, “Fun!”
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For many people it wouldn’t be easy to go to a completely different country where you know almost nobody, but for Rana, she has only grown and gained confidence from the experience.
Rana accepting her Outstanding First-Year Student Award in 2020
“I definitely feel the growth,” said Rana. “I have realized that everything is different and I have more confidence. Part of that is from the work I do in Admissions and the trust that my supervisors have in me. Same with the other opportunities I have gotten. Now I have an idea of what is going on. I also have hands-on experience in the classroom, giving presentations, doing group projects, all those different experiences I never had in Nepal help.”
Although Rana has grown and gotten more confident, because of the COVID-19 pandemic she has not seen her family back in Nepal since she left in August 2019. Even though it is hard at times, she uses video calls and her adopted family to not feel homesick.
“I talk to my mom and sister every once in a while to know that they are okay,” Rana said. “With technology and video calls it doesn’t really feel like I’m that far away.”
Rana is always busy. She is a double major in Psychology and Sociology, a minor in YMCA, in the Honors program, Co-President of the International Students Organization, and a member of the Honors Council. She works in Admissions as an International Students coordinator, and interns with Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts.
Her internship is something that she is most passionate about. She works as a Digital Literacy Circles intern with newly arrived Afghani and Somali refugees where she teaches them how to use Chromebooks.
Rana has helped pave the way for other students from Nepal to Springfield College. In 2019 she was the only Nepali student on campus and now there are 16 Nepali students here with more on the way. She wants to help them and see them succeed.
“They text me all the time whenever they have a question because I have been here the longest and can point them in the right direction,” Rana said.
Rana’s goal after college is to become a licensed social worker in the U.S. who works with kids and young adults in a clinical setting.
From Kathmadhu, Nepal to Springfield, Rana has found her dream and won’t let anything get in the way of her reaching it.
Whether she is in her favorite spot behind Alumni Hall with her emotional support dog, Louise (Shepherd and Hound mix), working in Admissions, or at Professor Wheeler’s house, she is right at home.
Photos courtesy of Chandani Rana