Kavyashree grew up in Kathmandu in a very difficult home where her childhood was marked more by fear than by safety, and a quiet resilience she built largely on her own. From grade 7, everything shifted: she joined Sathya Sai Shikshya Sadan, a community-based residential school whose philosophy of human values of truth, duty, peace, love, and non-violence, which gave her a different kind of education than she had known. The teachers there appreciated her novels, her enthusiasm, her handwriting; they gave her space to present papers, compete in elocution, and feel seen in ways she hadn't been before. She topped her class, performed, emceed national youth conferences in Lumbini and international conferences in Puttaparthi, and carried that formation into St. Xavier's College, where she completed her Bachelor's in Psychology and Social Work. When her parents separated, and she failed her grade 11 Physics exam, with a year lost, compounded by COVID, she did not disappear. She taught tuiti…

Shamim comes from Sunsari in Eastern Nepal, from a family that holds within it almost every version of a life lived in service: a grandfather who farmed with his whole body, a father who gave himself to politics, brothers who became doctors, and a mother who had been unable to continue her own education despite having the means to do so. That realization, when it came, first made him angry. Then it made him look more carefully at the world around him. It was his first day as a volunteer teacher, however, that reordered something deeper in him. He walked into a classroom and saw children with no proper shoes, slippers worn through, runny noses, no oil in their hair, children who had parents and siblings at home, and he stopped, in his own words, complaining. The things he had carried from his own difficult experiences suddenly felt smaller. What remained was a single, clear desire: to see those children find their place. Shamim joins Teach For Nepal with the humility of someone who has…

Pooja grew up in Kathmandu, the child of two self-made parents: a father who drove long routes across the country and a mother who ran a small kirana store, both of whom had come to the city young, built their lives through their own hands, and poured their belief into their daughter's. She was a happy, independent, curious child who saved money toward small goals and had her wins celebrated, questioned everything her teachers said, and once told her science teacher with full confidence that she was going to be an NBA player. Books were always there, always central. A teacher once confiscated a novel before an exam. She chose Psychology for her Bachelor's at Premier College because it was never a question for her: people, their inner worlds, and the stories they carry were what she had always been most drawn to. Pooja comes to Teach For Nepal not from a dramatic moment of calling, but from a steady, honest desire to step outside the small, privileged bubble she has lived in, to under…

Nimesh grew up in Tarkeshwar, Kathmandu, in a family rooted in agriculture — people who worked the land and understood, in practical terms, what it meant to depend on it. He was a simple and curious child who found joy in learning, and carried that curiosity through a public school education where he sat in the back of the classroom, observed the world around him, and quietly developed a sensibility that would later take him toward writing stories and poems. Being bullied at a private school was a turning point that left a mark — not a wound he carries with resentment, but a lived experience that gave him a particular understanding of what it feels like to be invisible or dismissed, and what a different kind of environment can do to a young person. He went on to study Agriculture at HICAST, drawn to the connection between land, community, and livelihood, and it was listening to TFN alumni speak about their fellowship experiences that first pulled him toward education. Nimesh joins the…

Swechchha was born in Jaleshwar, Mahottari. She was a bright, shy child who was the top girl in class, the kind of student teachers remembered and parents took pride in. Throughout her childhood, she changed her school four times, each with different priorities, environment, and attention to education. During her +2, anxiety disorder made classrooms feel impossible; a teacher made the school a safe space for her. She went on to complete her BSc. CSIT, fighting through financial pressure and self-doubt to stay on the path she knew mattered to her. Living with anxiety has made Swechchha more empathetic, more attuned to what other people are carrying, and more certain that growth is never linear. She values continuous learning from experiences and challenges, integrity, and a sense of possibility. She sees the TFN Fellowship as a real, grounded step towards the kind of life she wants to build - that values people, their stories, and spaces of growth - especially in education and mental h…

Shrawan grew up at the edge of the Kathmandu Valley, in Naikap, with a habit of rational, curious thinking and a sense of civic responsibility toward the world beyond the family. He dreamed of being an astronaut as a child, was shaped by fictional characters who quietly did the right thing, and grew into someone drawn to long philosophical conversations, novels, guitar, and the kind of ideas that don't resolve easily. Shrawan arrives at the Teach For Nepal Fellowship resonating with the organization’s clarity of purpose, grounded approach, and emphasis on equity in education. He hopes to understand community, education, and classrooms rooted in reality through the Fellowship. He wants to develop his capacity for leadership, diplomacy, negotiation, problem solving which will aid his goal of working in policymaking with fundamental facets of community. The fellowship aligns with his larger purpose in life - to view things critically and broadly, understand the education system at its co…

Rahul grew up in Dhanusha in a modest household, with a father who worked abroad and a mother whose quiet determination became the single most decisive force in his life. It was she who convinced him to pursue a Bachelor's degree when, looking at the family's circumstances, he had already made peace with going abroad for work instead. He was a shy, slow learner as a child, but his fundamentals were always clear, and in grade 10, he topped his class and became a second runner-up in a Science Exhibition that same year, where he built a working cannon from scratch. He started understanding that curiosity, persistence, and hands-on thinking could take him further than examinations ever suggested. He went on to complete Computer Engineering in Gujarat, navigating a new country and the hard work of finding his voice in unfamiliar rooms. Communication never came naturally to Rahul, but deep thinking did, but translating that into words, into leadership, into presence in a crowd required deli…

Bindu grew up in Nepalgunj, a quiet and observant child who finished her homework on the terrace while watching the sunset. School was a place she took seriously, and the teachers who took her seriously back left a mark she still carries. From her school teacher who encouraged her to write her first poem to her teachers in her Bachelor’s, who made complex concepts feel relevant and alive through creative, real-world assignments. But it was also in those same school years that Bindu watched classmates who struggled, often from difficult homes, who failed exams and missed homework receive punishment instead of understanding, and she never forgot the discomfort that stirred in her. Going through open-heart surgery and a long recovery period forced her to slow down, pause plans, and face uncertainty in ways she had never experienced before. It also taught her resilience, patience, and the importance of moving forward one step at a time. She went on to complete her Bachelor's, drawn to the…

Parash grew up in Ranipur, Bardiya, which shaped a childhood of mud, football, movies, and the particular kind of freedom that comes from growing up close to something wild. After grade 3, he moved into a hostel at an army school, spending seven formative years among children from every corner of Nepal, every ethnic background, every kind of family that became the texture of his education as much as any textbook. He was a mediocre student for much of school, until a teacher beat him in front of the whole class and told him he was good for nothing; Parash made a promise to prove him wrong. Two teachers stayed with him from that point on: a Social Studies teacher who called him to his house and talked about geopolitics and world order, and a Business Finance teacher who never handed out notebooks or assignments, showed films and told stories, and connected everything back to the syllabus in a way that made learning feel effortless. It was during his bachelor years that he began giving p…

Karina grew up in Balkhu, Kathmandu, the first child in her family. She spent much of her childhood with her extended family, painted and sketched whenever she had the chance, and dreamed of becoming a doctor. That childhood image of herself in a white coat stayed with her long enough to carry her into a Science stream for her +2, but as she grew, her interests shifted toward the systems behind it. She completed her Bachelor's in Healthcare Management and joined B&B Hospital, where she balanced classes in the morning and office shifts in the afternoon. But even as the work was stable and she was being noticed, she felt restless. Most of her peers were going abroad; she was in a routine that felt, despite its security, increasingly disconnected from purpose. Karina understood that health challenges in the health system come from a lack of awareness and education. Karina joins the Fellowship carrying both her professional discipline and a belief that the most valuable thing you can give…