personal stories

@sapnewali

what's your story?

I was born in a small hospital in a little town in the northern parts of Nepal. On one of the coldest days of that winter.

My dad applied for a Diversity Visa and he got it. Six months later, we were off to the USA with nothing but some old clothes.

A few years later, my dad graduated and then we moved into our own apartment.

When I was four, my parents sent me to Nepal and I was mad at first. But I learned and saw many things that I may never unsee. Two years later, my parents took me back to the USA.

I barely knew English. It sucked. The first day of school, I woke up happy and excited and when I got to school, all that changed. I was bullied for not knowing English, for being Desi for basically everything I am.

I didn't fight back. I didn't. I never did because there was no point. They kept teasing me, hurting me with words.

Before long, I learned English but the bullying didn't stop. It continued. Like life.

Then we moved. To a better neighborhood. And it felt wonderful. The friends I had there I still talk to. I got amazing friends that stuck by my side no matter what. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.