Student Profile: Karan Poudel

Karan is lively, talkative, and always seems to be getting in trouble at Stephens for both of those things. This does not stop him. He is often the first to speak in class, right or wrong, words or noises, and he is very outgoing. He is working on his football skills and when I tell him what he needs to work on, he is not dismayed or upset at all--he skips back onto the courtyard and tries his best against his older, much bigger friends and fellow boarders. Here is the conversation we had today during afternoon study.

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Me: Introduce yourself and tell me a little about who you are.

Karan: Hello, my name is Karan Poudel, I am from Nepal. In my family there are 4 members. They are my father and mother and sister and me. I live in Basundhara, Kathmandu. I am eleven years old and I’m in grade 5. My birthday is on February 19^th. I live in Stephens International School.

He also lives to be first in every line

... And constantly asks to "click" his picture

My favorite subject is math and science because math helps us do so many things. We can calculate the number of students. Science helps us to do experiments. Science is the subject which is truth. At the school, I wish we had a bigger grounds and a beautiful garden. I also want the style of studying to be changed like the U.S.

Me: What did you like about your visit to America? What were the best moments?

Karan: When I went to dance in Baltimore, they gave us dollars for our dance. My favorite food was Mighty Wings in U.S. at McDonalds.

Me: In America and you had a great time, but what did you not like about America?

Karan: I did not like people eating our national animal.

How would an American like it if Nepalese
snacked on Eagles (true Mighty Wings)?

Me: Instead of doing your 5 things today, tell me who your best friend is and why.

Karan: My best friend is Yuvraj. If I am sad he will make me happy by making some funny things or doing something which I like and making jokes and I will laugh.

Me: So you like jokes. Do you know any good jokes?

[Chuckles] Yes, sir. There was, in Nepali, there was Ram (a name) and Budi (budi means brain) and they went to play on a bike. And Budi went to do long toilet (number 2) and he said, “Ram wait while I go to toilet.” Ram was playing in the road on his bike and suddenly he hit a car and the person said, “Where is your Budi?!!” Ram said, “Oh, my Budi is going long toilet” [laughter]

Me: That is funny. Did you make it up?

Karan: Yes [laughter]

Me: What is your religion?

Karan: I am Chettri. My religion is important for me. In my house there is one room that is extra and we made it into a temple. Inside the temple we have photos of Chhatri gods (Hindu and Chhatri worship the same gods) and statues made of iron. My favorite holiday is Dashain and Tihar. Dashain is one month and we go to our elders to put tikka on them and they bless us. Dashain is Hindu’s main festival. In Tihar, we burn firecrackers on the roof and they rocket. Tihar is the end of Dashain and we always light firecrackers.

Me: If you could say one thing and the entire world could listen, what would you tell them?

Karan: Don’t think Nepal is small. In Nepal there are some places where you can know about the past about Nepal. Before we were born, Nepal was separated into small kingdoms and they were fighting with their own countries. There was one man who was able to fix Nepal into one piece named Prithivi Narayan Shah. If he didn’t come, another country might have defeated us and taken Nepal and there might not be a country called Nepal and I might not say about it today.

Me: Any last words before you have to go back and study?

Karan: If you haven’t visited Nepal, please visit. It is a good place to visit.

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Nepal is a good place to visit, and it is steeped in thousands of years of history and cultures as numerous as the mountains. Americans: Listen to Karan and come visit the home of the Himalayas. Nepalese: Listen to Karan and once again unite yourselves--this time, do it to clean up your city and environment.

--a message from Alex and Karan