I am a senior majoring in electrical engineering. I am proud to say that I am the first-gen student in my family. Let me start my story with my introduction and how my family's situation shaped who I am today.
I am from the beautiful country Nepal. I consider myself a hardworking student rather than a talented one. I have six members in my family: me, my mother, grandmother, father, younger sister, and younger brother. Being the oldest in the family, I always felt that I am responsible to make sure that my parents get the life they deserve and that my younger siblings find me a good role model for them. Whatever I am right now is because of my parents. I have learned to struggle from my parents, especially my grandmother. I feel that along with my story, her story should be shared as well, as she inspires me to never lose hope and provides me the courage to do everything in life.
My grandmother was married when she was 16 and widowed at the age of 20 with a 3-year-old son and pregnant. During that time in Nepal, being a widow was not as easy as now. My father was an orphan at the age of 3 and had the responsibility of taking care of my grandmother and his younger brother. Life was never easy for them. Education is not free in Nepal. He never got the opportunity to finish school, as he had to support his family. We had two cows and we used to sell milk for a living. My father realized that the money he was earning was not enough to ensure that we got a better education. I still remember that he used to walk back home for one hour just to save money for the bus. Then he went to Qatar where he worked day and night to save money for our studies. He always wanted to be the father figure he never got an opportunity to have.
I was raised looking at my family's struggle for basic needs. When I decided that I wanted to pursue higher education, my mother wanted me to become a nurse. She thought that it would be a better choice since “I was a woman." I convinced my parents that I love engineering and I want to be an engineer instead. They always supported me and were happy with my decision as well. I came to the U.S. at the age of 17 for my undergraduate degree and did not know anyone here. It was exceedingly difficult to adapt to a different culture, food, and lifestyle. As time passed, I met new friends, learned how to adapt, and now I am immensely proud of who I am as a person. Electrical engineering is a very male-dominated field, so I am the only girl in many of my classes, which makes me proud and encourages me to support women in engineering. I always remember how much my parents and I have gone through to reach where I am right now. I have received a scholarship that covers about 90% of my tuition (Heineken scholarship), I am president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE at WMU), I got a scholarship from East Michigan Engineer of Energy Engineers, and I accepted a full-time offer at Black and Veatch after my graduation. My sister also came to the U.S. to study Computer Science at Howard University this semester and my younger brother is also doing good in his studies in Nepal. (He is in 5th grade).
I have learned that dreams do come true. I would also like to thank WMU for supplying such good international scholarships, departmental scholarships, and great professors who have helped me a lot during my undergraduate degree.
