In the shoes of a Nepalese Undergraduate: An American Dream

Venue: A Tea/Coffee Shop

As I enter the shop I find my friend already waiting for me. We make our order and sit to chat. Both of us are the recent addition to the already exploding road/house runners of the new generation. We are the torch bearers of tomorrow’s Nepal. Didn’t get the meaning, well we have both just completed our undergraduate degree.

As we are chatting in come a group of guys in some hot discussion. We stop our chat to listen to this group. After a couple of rounds of talk we realize that these people are no different than us. And what are they talking about, one of the guy is looking for a job, while the others are trying for studies abroad. These guys are talking about the same thing what (no second guess needed here) we were just talking about.

Scenario 1:

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
A fresh Undergraduate
A fresh Undergraduate who?
A fresh undergraduate looking for a job
Looking for a job who?
Any kind of job even if it is teaching for one year then apply for studies abroad

Scenario 2:

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
A fresh Undergraduate
A fresh Undergraduate who?
A fresh undergraduate looking to go abroad
Looking to go abroad who?
For my Graduation, does not matter which field

Do you see a pattern here or am I crazy? Scores of youth graduate from tens of colleges with different expertise but with a single dream, a dream which is not a Nepalese dream, but an American dream. A dream which takes them to America for studies and then if fortunate enough, settlement.

Exit this group of youths and another take there place and the same talk all over again. Is this the Nepal our older generation is leaving for us? I was listening to the news the other day about the appointment of new Prime Minister in Singapore and the major challenge his government will be facing in the coming days is from lack of younger generation to take over the country since people there have just stopped having children anymore. I am not afraid for these countries since they can import man power from other countries, I am afraid for those countries who are exporting these man power (popularly known as Brain Drain).

There are two things which parents teach there children at home namely, moral values and family culture and these are reinstated during the school days. To this list is added another field which has got more emphasis over the other and that is study/settlement abroad techniques. There are more and I mean more counseling for study abroad then there is for job placement. There are more companies which train people for abroad study then there are placement agencies, in fact I believe (though I have no statistics to prove it) there are more agencies which provides you jobs abroad then they do in Nepal itself. Look at any newspaper during the admission season (namely June, July, and August) and you’ll find more Study abroad ads then college’s ad then job vacancy ads.

Exit the second group and since it was getting really late into the night, me and my friend also paid our bills and bid goodbye promising to meet the next day to go to the USEF (United States Education Foundation in Nepal for those who didn’t already know about it) to get all the details on applying for a college in the States and follow a Nepalese Graduates American Dream.