The Graduation

My life so far has been a case of “tero padhaii siddhayera garna”. At times I felt that education came in the middle of a lot of things that I wanted to do. Whilst my parents viewed education as a catalyst, I couldn’t help but feel as if education was sometimes a barrier. Whatever I asked for, the reply would keep changing between different levels of education. Finish your GCSE (SLC equivalent), finish your A Levels, finish your degree; well I officially finished my degree on July 17 2013 when I wore my graduation gown and walked up the stage to shake the principal’s hand at Queen Mary. It was weird. I kept questioning myself “do I need this ceremony to prove that I’m done? And shake the hand of a principal who knows nothing about my degree or me and who I know nothing about?”. Well, in this age of social media – I guess I did need the ceremony and the photos. Most importantly, it was a day that my parents had probably been waiting for since I started learning the alphabet. We’ve purchased so many photos from the day that we probably need to circulate to our gau in Nepal.

I find myself interacting with a lot of young people in education. Quite a few seem distracted, lacking clarity. It made me feel normal. We complain sometimes, “I wish I wasn’t in uni”. The answer for what we would be doing out of university is not crystal clear either. I always had the urge to take a gap year before I started university, work for few months then volunteer and travel abroad. Maybe I would’ve appreciated education more after the gap. Even though the age of 18 marks the early days of adulthood, I personally feel that age is a little too early to be making those crucial decisions that have the ability to impact how your career shapes. I was a ‘Gifted & Talented’ student during my college years. It was very much expected for me to progress onto university. To be honest, I always had a difficulty with the schooling environment. I felt suffocated with learning within the four walls at times. My little complaints about college were nothing compared to my first year at university. I found it very challenging to read so much of what I felt was ‘irrelevant theories’ from people that died centuries ago. It was like groundhog day, constantly repeating and never ending.

I had plenty to distract myself with. The world of lexlimbu.com was gaining popularity at an alarming speed during my first year. That was my breath of fresh air, my escape. I gave more of myself to that world. It was a constant battle to pull myself back and push myself forward. I found myself lost a lot of the times. Then again, I did not want to be found either. Few experiences, projects and a much needed reality check brought me back in the zone. Second year of studies progressed into a much exciting and relevant focus on the human geography issues of the present. I finally felt like I was studying the course I picked. Things progressed well, I tried my very best to stick by my new priority list which had education before my family on the ranking. For my parents, I would be their last child to graduate. I just had to.

Being in the social eye, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to meet so many individuals involved in diverse professions all over the world. I absolutely feel that meeting such personalities has clearly had an impact on me. Every few person I meet, I get inspired by their story and their struggles and it wouldn’t take me long before I start thinking of a new career or maybe a new course. I’m now a graduate in Human Geography and ideally I see myself working in the development sector. Apart from that I would love to be involved in media and the tourism sector. It’s times like these where I wish there was another of me.

I want to try my best to steer away from my ‘too planned’ life. If I jumped straight into the job-hunting bandwagon right now, I’d be a very miserable individual forever wondering how it would’ve been to do what I really want to. It’s my time to say “padhai siddhiyo, aba mero palo ayo”. I am on the bright side, young, full of energy and turning the pages to my new phase.

“Every cloud has a silver lining”