After an emotional goodbye to her family, Sanskriti Bohara boarded the plane to begin the journey she had waited for her whole life. But sitting on the plane triggered second thoughts in her mind.
“Should I get off the plane?” she thought, but quickly gave herself a pep talk. “No, this is what I have chosen for myself, I need to go!”
With that, the plane rumbled to life, and Bohara was off to her new beginning.
Bohara was in the middle of her junior year of university in Nepal, where she was studying finance. It was during this time that she was granted her visa to travel, so she dropped out and left her country for the first time. She was starting from scratch.
After graduating from high school, Bohara first brought up the idea of studying abroad. Her mother responded with tears, asking her not to leave. With that, Bohara applied to college locally and began working toward a bachelor’s degree in banking. But the idea of moving abroad was still itching in the back of her brain.
“I did not want to leave them yet … [but] I wondered, ‘This is not where I belong, I want to move out, see how things work,’” Bohara explained, adding she craved the independence that came with being abroad.
Bohara describes her family as “typical.” She has an older brother and younger sister, a father who takes charge and a stay-at-home mother. Her parents did not understand why she would want to leave them, making it difficult to achieve her lifelong dream of studying overseas.
Coming to Webster meant uprooting everything she was comfortable and familiar with, and entering a world of new and different experiences.
Upon her second attempt to go to a college abroad, Bohara applied to schools in Australia, but then COVID-19 hit.
“That was the second time my dream got squashed,” Bohara said. “Everything was shut down.”
Even her family in Australia told her not to come, saying “There is a lot of unemployment, you’re just going to suffer.”
And while Bohara continued her studies in Nepal, the voice in the back of her mind telling her to seek education elsewhere only got louder. So, she woke up one day and began researching colleges in the United States.
She began working through the English section on Duolingo. The English proficiency test on Duolingo is accepted by over 5,000 universities, including Webster University.
Bohara and her father made the trip to southern India after she was invited to be interviewed for a visa. But her application was rejected, making her feel as though her world was crashing down.
“I was crying on my way back to the hotel, I was saying, ‘Oh, my god, this is the end of the world, this is it. I am never moving abroad. This was my last attempt,’” Bohara said, now laughing at the situation.
Even after a successful second attempt at a visa, her family continued to urge her not to go. She explained that in Nepal, children rarely move out of their parents’ house until past the age of 18, when they are expected to get married, start a family and settle down.
But Bohara had different plans, which included education and traveling the world. She wanted to explore, not settle.
The day before she left Nepal was when all of the pieces began to fall into place. Her family held a get-together and gathered everyone for one last meal and to bid farewell.
“That was when it hit me, I am leaving tomorrow, home is never going to be home again. Even if I go home now or maybe after a year, I will have to go back, it’s not going to be what it used to be. I don’t have a home anymore and that’s something that every international student feels,” Bohara said.
Once in St. Louis, Bohara locked herself in her campus apartment for two days. Typically a sociable person, she became a “hermit” as the anxiety of being alone in a new place set in. The idea of not making any friends and being alone scared her, and she began second-guessing her choice to leave home.
“Everybody has a circle back home, someone you grew up with, someone you played with, someone who knows all of your secrets. Now you just move to a whole different country, a whole different culture, that was a cultural shock,” she said.
That was then. Now, four months into her studies at Webster, Bohara has been able to establish a group of friends and relationships she can rely on.
She and her roommate have been sharing and learning about old and new culture. Bohara incorporates a “rule” in their apartment of immediately removing shoes upon entering. Her roommate has introduced Bohara to traditional American eats such as spaghetti, and eating mac and cheese as a meal rather than a snack. Bohara also feels her teachers truly care about her success and will do whatever they can to assist her.
Bohara admits she misses her home and family every day, especially her mom’s cooking and the family dog. And with the 11-hour time difference, communication with her family is a challenge, her grandparents calling in the afternoon in their time zone, but in the early morning hours for Bohara. It is a challenge but they make it work.
Bohara is majoring in Psychology with an emphasis on mental health – a complete flip from her original intent to study banking. According to her, women in Nepal suffer from substance abuse at a higher rate than men, but there is a lack of resources for those who need them. She hopes to open a women’s rehabilitation center in Nepal after completing her studies – and embarking on more world travel.
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