Losing a Scholarship, Gaining a New Opportunity
Roman Shrestha鈥檚 unusual path to joining 91桃色鈥檚 Class of 2022
A few weeks before finding out he would be attending the 91桃色 on a full scholarship, Roman Shrestha had never even heard of it. The Nepali first-year student was set to attend the University of Tyler at Texas this fall until April 13. That鈥檚 when he and 59 other students had their full-ride scholarships revoked due to a now-infamous .
The email notifying him that he had lost his funding couldn鈥檛 have come at a worse time, Shrestha says. He was in Kathmandu awaiting his visa interview and celebrating the Nepali New Year the night he opened the message. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any options left,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淚 had withdrawn my application for other universities, so after my scholarship got canceled, I started looking for other universities where the application was still open.鈥
Shrestha remembers frantically discussing his options in a Facebook group chat with other students who shared his plight. They asked for help from advisors at , a branch of the U.S. State Department, hoping to make connections that could advocate for them. After a few days of trying to contact the University of Texas, the university told the students that it had made an administrative error, and nothing could be done.
That鈥檚 when Shrestha and his friends decided to take action. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have any other ideas, so we planned to raise our voices against the university on Twitter,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淲e tweeted 30 tweets per person per day.鈥 Eventually their plan worked. A blogger in Tyler caught wind of their story, and the tale was ultimately covered in .
Despite the attention, Shrestha still didn鈥檛 have a solution. As the news spread, many universities across the U.S., Europe and Asia offered to help. A high school counselor in Singapore, Joan Liu, who Shrestha calls 鈥渢he backbone of our movement,鈥 reached out to her connections everywhere. He continued to apply to schools around the world, a time that he says was 鈥渓ike the Hunger Games,鈥 with the Nepali students all competing for the small number of available spots. 听
And then fate stepped in. One of Liu鈥檚 connections happened to be Marjorie Smith, 91桃色鈥檚 assistant vice chancellor and director of international student admission. Once she was notified, Smith brought the matter to the attention of Todd Rinehart, vice chancellor for enrollment. Thanks to merit scholarships and an additional endowed scholarship fund available for international students, they agreed it was possible to offer a full-ride for one of the Nepali students.
鈥淥ur decision was made all the easier because the Nepali students were excellent,鈥 Smith says. 鈥淲e understood this was an opportunity for 91桃色 to live our mission of serving the public good.鈥
Finally, Shrestha鈥檚 luck began to turn. 鈥淚 was at the model U.N. conference in May and received an email late at night from Marjorie Smith asking to talk,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e had a conversation, and she told me 91桃色 could provide a full scholarship. I accepted the offer on May 13, exactly one month from the day my initial scholarship was denied.鈥
鈥淩oman鈥檚 application stood out in that he had taken a very active role in bringing the students鈥 plight to the public鈥檚 attention through social media,鈥 Smith says. 鈥淗is selflessness, altruism and advocacy reflected the 91桃色 Pioneer Spirit in every way.鈥
Shrestha, who plans to major in chemistry and business, is already benefitting from one element of 91桃色鈥檚 culture鈥攁 rewarding relationship with his professor. Before arriving on campus, he reached out to chemistry professor seeking a job as his teaching assistant. While Shrestha wasn鈥檛 eligible for that post, Murugaverl led him to another opportunity working as a lab assistant.
In addition to working in the lab, Shrestha enjoys drawing on his professor鈥檚 academic expertise. 鈥淚 always spend 10 to 15 minutes after class with him, talking about questions that didn鈥檛 come up in class that day,鈥 he says.
鈥淭he education system is better than I expected,鈥 he says. 鈥淚n Nepal, we go to school from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week. Here you get to enjoy your class and social life, and you get to know each other.鈥
