Joining the fellowship was the most difficult decision that I have ever made, but something I will never regret. I declined a full scholarship from the Indian Embassy to pursue an MBA in order to join the fellowship. I want to contribute something to society as well as develop myself into a better person first. I hope to become a top banker in Nepal someday, but I’m willing to put that ambition on hold while I work to end education inequity. I’m so grateful that I stumbled upon the fellowship advertisement. It made me realize that this is what I want to do in life. I dream that someday our country will become developed and people will be literate and well educated. I understand that I cannot change the whole context of education in a flash, but I hope my small contribution will impact the lives of children I teach. Who knows, they may end up becoming the leaders of the world. I think joining Teach For Nepal will ultimately help in achieving my dream.

I have always been a dedicated student, though my results may not always show in numbers. If I had been enrolled into a special school accessible for people with different abilities, I believe I could have done better. But, I did my entire schooling from Kathmandu Model School that is near my house in Naya Bazar. I was quite sincere towards my studies but little provisions were available to address my special needs. Only when I got to grade nine, were my special needs finally addressed. I started getting good marks and eventually, passed the School Leaving Certificate examination with distinction. I have always aspired to be educated and independent enough to meet my personal and family needs. I want to work in the domain of health and education so that a noticeable change can be brought in society. There’s a great alignment between the vision of Teach For Nepal and my own commitment towards inclusive education, regardless of physical and mental states. Working with disadvantag…

I joined Teach For Nepal to prove my mom wrong,” when I saw this in Swastika didi’s story, I was very stunned because my reason is somewhat similar to it. During my parents' time education was less important to earn a living. Now, they have the mindset that business is the most powerful profession and my sisters and I should do that. However, I have different plans for life, as I want to explore and learn to excel. This fellowship will allow me to explore my personal interests and plans. My parents were not supportive at the beginning and they are still not happy with my decision. While growing up I was taught to get satisfaction by helping others and I have grown passionate about it now. I really want to make a difference in peoples’ lives. It does not matter how much I earn, what matters is how satisfied I am. I hope to make my parents proud of me by excelling in this fellowship. Though they are sad today, I can’t wait for the day in which their eyes will glow with pride…

I was raised in a middle class family. Having been through a lot of things in life, I had to start my career early by teaching at local schools. Though I have years of experience in teaching, it was monotonous because I was not challenged to bring any change. After being suggested to apply for this fellowship, I was really confused. I went to the website and could not decide. It took a real courage to decide to apply and later when I was selected people around me were critical of my decision to join this Fellowship. However, I have realized that I must step up to bring change, and this fellowship has become my first step to bring social-educational reform. I dream of seeing 100 percent literacy in Nepal and that overlaps with the vision and mission of Teach For Nepal. Moreover, being in a rural area for two years of my life and teaching will be the best combination I could ever think of. I would be investing my energy for the betterment of the education sector while also p…

As a child I never dreamed of living a fairytale life. My family expected me to become a doctor and earn a lot to help them. I definitely disappointed them by accepting this fellowship. My father wanted me to have a brighter future, but what I want is for thousands of kids to have brighter futures. After seven months of discussions and arguments, my father finally agreed and I joined Teach For Nepal. Today, my parents are proud of me. I want to be the kind of teacher who transforms not only the classroom, but the lives of the students and the community itself. I want to be a role model to the children. I learned that most girls in the communities we work with get married before they turn 15. I hope to be an inspiration for the girls and their families. In the long run, I want to pursue my Masters in Child Psychology. These two years will expose me to the experience of these children and enrich my understanding of them.

While I was finishing my Masters degree in Germany, I learned about Teach For Nepal and I started exploring the possibility of working as a Fellow after I completed Masters. Scrolling through the website, I learned many things about the education system of Nepal and I got inspired by the stories of senior fellows. It was challenging for me to decide to come back to Nepal to become a Fellow, but after talking to team members of the organization and knowing the multiple aspects of this fellowship, I realized that this was the right moment for me to come back to Nepal to work here.   With 57 of us going into the classrooms on the path already paved by senior Fellows, I believe we as a team that can help in building a better future for the children to shape Nepal’s future. The journey of ours will not end in these two years since it is just the beginning. As alumni we will still be part of this drive to end educational inequity in Nepal for the rest of our lives.  

I come from a background where inequality was inevitable, and discrimination accepted. Still, my parents enrolled me into a local private school, going against the social system, as they believed in the importance of education. I know from firsthand that education has the power of bringing equality in society. I could see that inside school there was no discrimination. In school, it didn’t matter what caste or community you belonged to. What mattered was your achievement and the hard-workers were rewarded. Therefore, I thought that the only tool to get ahead was through education. This paid off, as I was recently hired by a US based Software Company in Nepal named Leap Frog. However, I gave up the job to join this fellowship as the call for education equity awakened a sense of urgency in me to become part of this movement. Moreover, my personal experience of discrimination and inequality has led me to apply for this fellowship, as I don’t want any other child like me to go…

My parents moved to Kathmandu from Hetauda when the Maoist insurgency started to affect our education. I faced a new place, people, and a new language that made me shy and introverted. My parents had a job but only enough to pay for our school fees and live a simple life. My brother and I preferred to stay hungry during school breaks rather than ask our father for money. As an introvert, I was not very active in school but in college I got involved with art groups. Subsequently, I also got involved in various social activities and these made me more aware of society around me. I joined this fellowship, because I want to make my country a better place to live in. This two-year fellowship will give me the chance to be an independent and confident person who will travel and work in the education sector later in life. However, when I turn 40, I want to be a professional artist, open a gallery and enjoy the rest of my life.

The unstable economic condition of my parents forced me to struggle. I gave up my dream of being a Civil Engineer after I got a scholarship to pursue Electronics Engineering. My father works as a peon at a hospital and I understand how hard my parents have worked in making me who I am today. I was always an inquisitive child and used to collect things from the junkyard to build remote control cars. People say that I am destroying my career by coming to teach but I don’t see it this way. I dream of leading a research based non-profit organization by including the best graduates from engineering, agriculture, and environmental studies. Teach For Nepal is the best place to find all of these types of people. Taking the responsibility to contribute towards ending education inequity in Nepal and networking with the best leaders in the country is something really valuable in pursuing my long term goal. The contribution that I can make in these two years is something that has pulled …

During the Maoist insurgency, private school that I was studying was closed forcefully and we had to move to a government school. After I was moved to the public school, I experienced the disparity in the quality of education between the private and public school. Since college textbooks are all in English, I - similar to most students who come from government schools found it to be very challenging and frustrating. One question that always runs through my mind is, “why is there such disparity between people from same country? Why I and my friends from government schools didn’t get similar quality education as our peers in private schools?” I want to be a change maker and transform society. That is why I left my job as a web designer at Smart Tech Solutions, to pursue this dream to change and shape the future of Nepal.