|
Editor’s
note: Let’s stay connected |
| Dear Friends,
It is always a challenge to maintain an ongoing trend. However, as
if continuing the Society for Ex-Budhanilkantha Students (SEBS) and
its programs for twenty five years was a task not tall enough,
SEBSers have formed sister organizations in North America (SEBS-NA)
and the United Kingdom (SEBS-UK) with various programs running
parallel to their core goals. The enthusiasm in the SEBSers must be
lauded.
With every passing day, SEBSers are becoming more
connected and concerned for collective action towards the society,
Budhanilkantha School, and themselves. In the days to come, SEBSers
can be expected to bond better and create more
opportunities for Budhanilkantha School and beyond. We are all
invited to be a part of the SEBS activities and achievements.
As a part of the SEBS-NA initiative to keep SEBSers informed and
updated, we have been publishing this newsletter. In this issue, we have SEBS news,
SEBS-NA
Financial Disclosure 2007, Advanced Degree questionnaire (with Sigdel
sir), a report on BNKS initiative by SEBS-NA, and Class notes
(500B). We are open to changes, so feel free for comments and
suggestions. You can reach us at
sebsna@sebsonline.org.
With best regards,
Gaurav, 579C
|
|
SEBS-NA Reunion 2007 |
SEBS-NA would like to invite you
to our 2007 reunion that is going to be held in
Los Angeles
coinciding with the ANA convention. Our reunion is scheduled
in the Logan Room from
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm on
Saturday, June 30.
CLICK HERE to see who is attending and for details
SEBS-NA will present program and financial summary for past
year, discuss activities for the next year, and entertain your
comments & suggestions. Pizza and/or other light refreshments will
be served at the conclusion of the meeting.
For more details on ANA convention
please follow the link:
http://www.ana-convention.org.
Please contact Bhupendra Pant (512)796-3763 or
(518)210-4740 for any question(s) regarding SEBS reunion.
|
|
SEBS news |
|
SEBS-NA
Leadership Development Project
This is a new program initiated by SEBS-NA to support student
organizations
at Budhanilkantha School. Based on the proposals submitted to SEBS-NA
by a group of students or clubs, one or more projects will be
awarded with partial/full funding every year. The projects with
leadership development on focus will be given a priority.
Annual SEBS-NA College Information Session
Starting this year, SEBS-NA will coordinate with SEBS members, who
have studied abroad, to organize college information sessions at
Budhanilkantha School every year. The focus has been on the United
States colleges as of now, but we plan to expand our reach to other
countries so that the students at Budhanilkantha School will have
more options. Our first information session will be in August,
2007.
Hari Sharma
Member SEBS-NA |
|
Nationwide Scholarship Program – North
America |
|
Nationwide Scholarship Program – North America
(NSP-NA), administered by Society of Ex-Budhanilkantha Students (SEBS-NA)
as a working committee of the NSP program in the region, has been
busy at work as soon as the current committee was set up.
-
Boston Half-Marathon Run:
On May 27th,
2007, five SEBSers and friends completed the half-marathon run to
spread awareness and to raise funds for academic scholarship for
bright students in Nepal facing significant financial hardship.
Sudhir Manandhar, Sanjiv Sainju (517B), Sagun Shakya (749B),
Deepti Shrestha, and Ujwal Shrestha (439B) worked consistently
for the cause from the day they proposed the idea to the last step
of their run. Their efforts raised a grand total of $2,879. A big thank you for all
who contributed for this initiative and the runners for providing
publicity to SEBS-NA and its initiatives.
·
Art
Exhibition and Sale:
Anup Bhandari (906B)
is a prolific artist who frequently donates proceeds from the sale
of his paintings to philanthropy. In May 2007, he approached SEBS-NA
to donate 50% of the proceeds from his upcoming painting
exhibition-cum-sale. Although his exhibition, promoted by the local
newspaper in Longview, TX misprinted his address, he was still able
to sell some of his paintings. Thank you, Anup for your contribution
of $100 for NSP.
·
Santi School Project:
 In
partnership with the namesake organization - lead by Chris Heun,
this project has been a result of a year long effort. With this
project, NSP has strived to transcend its flagship program of
providing scholarships, and build a school in Ramche, Nepal. The
construction for the school building is tentatively scheduled to
start in September 2007, and active
fundraising has already started at various cities in the United
States to fund the project. A recent fundraiser in Baltimore, MD,
generated $2,375 and tallied the total funds raised to more than
$6,000. There will be more fundraisers for the purpose all over the
country in the forthcoming months. Please contact us at
nspna@sebsonline.org if you would like to contribute or for your
comments/suggestions.
|
|
SEBS-UK News |
|
SEBS-UK organized their second annual
get-together on 25th-26th May 2007, near the south east coast in
Hastings, UK. This year’s gathering attracted more than 60 SEBSers and
friends; members came all the way from Ireland and from the very
first batch to the ‘C’ batches. The venue - Pestalozzi Children's
Village – was selected to reflect the appreciation of the Pestalozzi
College, a charity that provides Budhanilkantha students a few
scholarships almost every year to study International Baccalaureate.
The event costs, likewise, helped to support that very cause.
The annual meeting
discussed various issues, including expansion of the executive
committee with more articulate positions for effective organization
building and better communication with other SEBS entities. The
weekend raised about £905 for Pestalozzi Village, and SEBS-UK
president, Ratna Pun also helped raise funds for the Alma Mater by
selling school ties.
In a fun-filled
weekend that highlighted a regained football glory for the ‘B’ Batch
and an enthusiastic "Antakshri" to enhance the entertaining
tradition of camping and bonfire late into the night, members
introduced their families and strengthened relationships with each
other. Mohan Giri (501B) even extended his visa to be able to join
in the fun.
SEBS-UK gathering
was also covered by a local Nepali newspaper, which has helped
publicize SEBS cause and spread awareness of the network in various
parts of the country.
|
|
BNKS Initiative: BNKS Wireless Network |
|
BNKS Wireless Network (BWN) is a key initiative proposed by the
current SEBS-NA excomm with the goal to form a partnership between
BNKS and SEBS-NA to plan, build and support a wireless network at
Budhanilkantha School. The idea was conceptualized upon various
meetings and communications with teachers and SEBS-NA members.
SEBS-NA would like to use this opportunity to tap into our talent
pool and demonstrate that our alumni network can now not only
provide financial assistance, but also technical expertise of moderate
scope to the school and bring resources together to help BNKS
maintain its reputation as the 'Center of Excellence'.
The
key driver of the project is the need to set up local networking
within BNKS. Teachers are currently provided with computers, but
without any networking these computers stand as stand-alone units in
departments and residences. Setting up a network within these
computers would allow greater collaboration, less paperwork, and
increased efficiency. All US colleges have some sort of central web
portal that houses student records, finances and necessary
information, and is so ubiquitous that it is almost taken for
granted. At BNKS, with such a networking in place, organized
databases of documents and records can be maintained leading to
greater efficiency and transparency. Having a network also opens up
the possibility of connecting to the World Wide Web through a
secured internet line. With such a system all the computers in the
school will have access to the internet reducing cost of individual
access as well as increased educational access to resources.
Finally, the costs associated with laying down the wires and the
relative size of school makes it more economical to have the
networking done via wireless routers.
The
project is in drawing board right now. We are conducting surveys
with the head of houses and departments (including library and
account office) to better understand the computing needs. We have
already received approval from the Principal and have proposed Mr.
Atiram KC to be our liaison at school for the project. We have also
identified key partners in Nepal, including non-SEBSers, who could
be instrumental in implementing the project. Our next step would be
to draw up a technical plan, review it with the school, and approach
individual and corporate donors for the funding and start
connecting! If you would like to know more about the project, or
would like to participate in it, please contact us at
sebsna@sebsonline.org
|
|
Advanced degree Questionnaire |
|
Aim: The goal of the questionnaire is to
collect graduate school related information from alumni in grad
school/or with advanced degrees (Masters or PhD) and to share it
with other SEBS members who are contemplating on applying to
graduate school.
Here,
Dr. Tara Sigdel (Sigdel sir) responds to Roshan Shrestha (002B) of the newsletter editorial team.
Questionnaire
SEBS: Please let us know about your University, degree program, and the year you are in.
Sigdel Sir: Miami University, PhD, 2000.
SEBS: In very layman terms, what are you
researching right now?
Sigdel Sir: Finding a better treatment strategy by identifying
biomarkers for dysfunction of transplanted kidney
SEBS: What were your motivations for going to
graduate school?
Sigdel Sir: To spend more time in research and change teaching only
career to something that involves research and teaching
SEBS: What is the most exciting aspect of
graduate school?
Sigdel Sir: The training in research, the close interaction with
advisor and fellow graduate students
SEBS: What is the most challenging aspect of
graduate school?
Sigdel Sir: For someone like me who joins a graduate program
directly, it is important to be familiar about Dos and
Don’t Dos. Maintaining required GPA, choosing a GOOD advisor,
maintaining a good research track, relation with advisor and with
other professors as their references are other crucial factors for
future application
SEBS: How did you hear about the school you
went to, and what did you have to do to apply to it? How long did
the total process take?
Sigdel Sir: I got the information about Miami U from the internet.
They required TOEFL and GRE (general), application fee $35.00.
Reference letters, personal assay and statement of purpose etc which
is common for most of the graduate school applications. It was about
two months of preparation except GRE preparation which took a little
longer.
SEBS: Where do you see yourself in next five
years?
Sigdel Sir: Preferably some place where I could do some research and
teaching as independent researcher
SEBS: How do you rate the importance of subject
tests, transcripts, recommendations and extracurricular achievements
for getting into graduate school?
Sigdel Sir: Subject tests (if available and required by the program), Recommendations/transcripts,
Prior exposure/ involvement in related field as chosen field for
graduate program and
Extracurricular activities
SEBS: Was your experience starkly different
from your expectation in any aspect? If so, would you share with us?
Sigdel Sir: It was as expected for the most part. I had some
surprises as first advisor decided to move to a company leaving me
in a position where I had to find my advisor again. Other than that
major event it was pretty much smooth and as expected.
SEBS: Do you have any suggestion/advice to give
to prospective applicants?
Sigdel Sir:
-
Plan early
-
Know your strength and
weakness to find a better suited graduate program for you. Since
there are a wide range of graduate programs in terms of quality,
it is always advisable to select an appropriate program to
apply.
-
Prepare a good
statement of purpose and a personal essay that best reflects you as an
individual and your aspirations
-
Stay in touch with
graduate admission coordinator; however don’t show desperateness
by emailing him/her daily
-
http://www.phds.org is
a good resource for candidates applying for graduate programs
|
|
CLASS NOTES |
We are continuing class notes in this
issue of our newsletter as well - featuring 500 B. Thanks to Rahul
Rauniyar (542B), for getting the class notes together. It is
understood that a good number or 500B students are still in the
process of “technically” settling down by getting married soon. And,
there is no prize for guessing as Nepal and the US continue to be
the favorite destinations to settle down.
This
time we grouped the class notes by broad profession category. Any
errors are our own.
Index: S = Single
M= Married
(The index only applies to those whose status is known to us.)
Quite a few individuals are involved in
Non Profit, Social/Development Work
in Nepal as well as in the US.
Pradip Paudel (510B)
(S) lives in Kathmandu and is working in The Lutheran World
Federation - Nepal (INGO).
Mingma Gyalzen Sherpa (527B)
(M) works in the field of Environmental Sanitation as a Programme
Manager for a national level NGO in Kathmandu called ENPHO (www.enpho.org).
Mingma is going to join AIT, Bangkok to do a PhD on Household
Centered Environmental Sanitation. Mingma and his wife Anjali
Manandhar have a 3 month old daughter.
Ashish Om Sitoula (562B)
(M) lives in Afghanistan and works as a Free-lance Consultant on
Development Communications.
Luna Ranjit (564B)
(M) is the president of Adhikaar, a Non Profit Organization in New
York.
Srijana Chettri (590B)
works in ATI Domestic Violence Research Project, a Non Profit
Organization in Washington DC.
Indu Adhikary (594B)
(S) lives in Kathmandu and works for the UN Development.
Upama Malla (595B)
(M) lives in the US and is a Fulbright scholar doing Masters in
Social Work.
There is no dearth of people pursuing Masters and PhDs in this
batch. The following are currently doing their
Graduate Studies
or are involved in
Academia.
Maan Bahadur Rokaya (506B)
lives in Prague, CZ Republic with his wife Binu Timsina. Having
worked as an academician in Kathmandu, Maan is pursuing his PhD in
Botany.
Suresh Lohani (519B)
works at Swarnim School in Kathmandu.
Batsal Devkota (532B),
a PhD Candidate at Georgia Tech (Biology Dept), is in Atlanta, USA.
Ashok Khanal (535B)
lives in Orlando, FL and is a PhD student at University of Central
Florida.
Santosh Kumar Chapagain (536B)
(M) lives in Sacramento, USA. He is pursuing his Masters degree.
Rajiv Gurung (540B)
(S) is studying Film Making at the New York University, New York.
Subash Shrestha (544B)
lives in Ohio, USA. Cleveland. He went back to school to finish his
Masters degree in Industrial Engineering.
Kanchan Sharma (557)
(M) is a Full time MBA student at UTA and is employed part-time.
Chandra Shekhar Rajaure (558B)
is in Ohio, USA. He completed his Ms. in environmental safety and
health management.
Bishupal Limbu (576B)
lives in Chicago, USA and is doing his PhD in Comparative Literary
Studies at Northwestern University.
Sishir Bhattarai (581B)
lives in Chicago, USA and is getting married this June. Sishir works
for the DFID and recently graduated from the University of Chicago.
Anshu Shrestha (591B)
(S) working towards a PhD in Epidemiology at UCLA.
Those with entrepreneurial minds have started their own
business, become
managers
or are working as
consultants.
Mohan Kumar Giri (501B)
completed his studies in India, Pune, and is in India, working as
the Managing Director / Country Representative at the LCCI. He is
still an eligible bachelor.
Mahesh Kunwar (508B)
(M) works as an Assistant Manager at the Stamford Plaza in Sydney,
Australia.
Samrat Dahal (526B)
lives in Kathmandu.
He is the CEO of da Vinci (Clothing outlet of Branded
Products e.g. Zara, A/X, Gucci, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy,
Tommy Hilfiger, Hollister, etc), MD of Leather Wings (Shoe
Manufacturing Company
http://www.leatherwings.com.np), MD of Aviation Academy (www.aviationacademy.edu.np)
& Kathmandu Academy and also works at a Bank as a Relationship
Manager.
Deepak Shrestha (543B)
(M) lives in Kathmandu and has his own Business.
Sunil Shrestha (545B)
(M) runs his business in Hetauda, Nepal.
Ujwal Thapa (552B)
(S) is the founder of Digital Max Solutions, Outsourcing Web
Applications and Development.
Madhusudhan Sarada (561B)
(M) is an industrialist and works at the Sarada Group of Industries
in Biratnagar, Nepal.
Bivek Yonzon (565B)
(M) and owns a restaurant in Australia.
Prem Prakash (567B)
(S) lives in Kathmandu and works for Thamel.Com.
Dipta Shah (569B)
is a consultant and lives in Washington DC, USA.
Vijit Krishna Shrestha (574B)
lives in Kathmandu and runs his own business.
Srinkhala Rai (588B)
(S) also works for LCCI with Mohan Giri (501B) in Pune, India.
Big
3 areas of work that most of 500B are involved in are:
technical (engineering)
field,
finance/accounting and
medicine. Those in
technical
field are mostly located in the US.
Sampurna Bikram KC (501B)
who after having completed Architecture from BIT, India, resides in
Kathmandu.
Prabin Rawal (513B),
a graduate of AIT, works at a Civil Engineering Consulting Firm in
Nepal.
Sushil Bhattarai (521B)
(M) works for the Ithaka Group in New Jersey, USA as a Software
Engineer.
Saroj Kumar KC (523B)
(S) works as an IT/Network Support in Boston, USA.
Himal Karmacharya (528B)
(M) lives in Waltham, MA, USA and works as a software Engineer for
D2Hawkeye Inc.
Sudip Pathak (530B)
(S) lives in Sunnyvale, USA. He works at AMCC as an engineer.
Gaurav Singh K C (533B)
(S) lives in Mountain View, CA and works as a software Engineer for
Google Inc.
Prakash Thapa (557B)
(S) lives in Connecticut, USA. He works at EMC.
Prajesh Bikram Thapa (559B)
(S) is a Mechanical Engineer at Fichtner at the JV Middle Marsyangdi
Hydroelectric Project.
Bibek Joshi (568B)
is a telecom engineer at Sprint. His work is located in Dallas,
Texas.
Subodh Manandhar (571B)
(M) lives in Kathmandu and is currently working at Infocom Pvt. Ltd.
having completed Electronics & Communications Engineering from Mapua
Inst. of Technology, Manila, Philippines.
Roopesh Joshi (572B)
lives in New York, USA and is an Environmental Engineer working for
Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. New York City.
Rupesh Dhakal (575B)
is in Omaha, NE, USA. He is a software engineer. He is getting
married this summer.
Sudin Ratna Bajracharya (577B)
(S) is a software engineer in Los Angeles.
Minoda Magar (583B)
is an engineer in Oklohoma, USA.
Mollica Manandhar (585B)
is married to Ashish Upadhyaya (584)
and they are blessed with a daughter. Mollica is an Architectural
Designer at the Payette Associates in Boston, USA.
Ava Malla (587B)
(M) is in Redwood California. She works at Intel.
Sagun KC (598B)
recently finished graduate work in Molecular Pharmacology from
Cornell/SKI and is working as a technology specialist, while seeking
a career in intellectual property law. Sagun lives in Washington DC,
USA.
500B has a good share of its
investments,
insurance
and
accounting
professionals.
Krishna Chhetri (503B)
is married to Pooja Sherchan (586B).
Krishna works as an Investment Banker at RBC Capital Markets.
Saroj Joshi (507B)
is pursuing chartered accountancy course from ICAN while currently
working as senior audit staff of Joshi & Bhandary chartered
accountants – Dillibazar, Kathmandu.
Rabindra Dhoj Karki (515B)
recently got married and works for Mergers & Acquisitions
Consultant, Corporate Development, M&A Dept., MetLife, Inc. where he
is involved in key aspects of MetLife's mergers and acquisitions
activities. He lives in New York.
Sanjiv Sainju (517B)
(S) lives in Boston and is a Treasury Officer at the Boston Private
Bank. The treasury Office is responsible for all the overall
management of the Bank’s balance sheet.
Ashish Shrestha (531B)
is a Senior Associate Consultant for the Reorganization Services
Group at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. Ashish, engaged and
to be married in 2007, is CPA certified and is pursuing CFA.
Jayendra Bikram Shah (534B)
lives in Kathmandu, Nepal and works at the Himalayan Bank.
Pranup Rudra Karmachrya (537B)
(S) is currently a CFA Level III candidate and has completed Masters
of Science in Computational Finance from De La Salle University.
Santosh Kumar Das (539B)
(S) lives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and is working with
KPMG as a Senior Associate (Audit).
Rahul Rauniyar (542B),
a Research Associate at an Investment Management Firm, lives in
Dallas, USA with his wife. He is a CFA level II candidate. He is
currently in the executive committee of SEBS North America.
Prashant Amatya (546B)
works for the Insurance and Investment Management, Deloitte & Touche
LLP, London.
Bhupendra Bilas Pant (550B)
recently got married to Sandhya and is working for the State of NY,
Division of the Budget in Albany, NY. He is currently the president
of SEBS North America.
Sagar Shrestha (555B)
completed his Bachelor in Business (Marketing) and Graduate Diploma
in Information System, but is a bachelor no more, having recently
married to Sabina. Sagar lives in Sydney, Australia and has been
working for an Insurance company for 3 years now.
Raghubar Shrestha (560B)
works at Itochu Minerals and Energy of Australia in Perth as a
Management Accountant. Raghubar is also pursuing CPA
qualifications.
Abhaya Bahadur Shah (580B)
(M) lives in Kathmandu and works at the Investment Bank.
Rakshya Rana (593B)
(M) works in the Standard Charter
Bank, Kathmandu.
Umanga Sharma (597B)
(M) works at Citizens Bank International bank as a Relationship
Manager in Consumer Banking Unit (anyone needing financial
assistance for buying a home, car or needing personal loans can
contact her)
Most of the batch members have become
doctors
or are
health-related professionals. Majority of them are practicing medicine in
Nepal but quite a few have completed residency in the US as well.
Bishwa Raj Dawadi (509B)
is a Doctor (MD) in Kathmandu with a Teaching Post.
Sanjay Ghimire (514B)
works as a Clinical Analyst for D2Hawkeye Inc. in Waltham, MA, USA.
Having done his Medicine in Bangladesh, Diwas Rajbhandari
(518B) (S) is now in Baglung, Nepal.
Upendra Bhattarai (520B)
(S) lives in Dallas, USA and is an Environmental Research Associate.
Suraj Gurung (525B)
(S), a senior resident at BPKIHS-Dharan, is in Kathmandu.
Raish Pokharel (529B)
is in Baneswore, Kathmandu and is a Medical Officer at the Urology
Department, Bir Hospital.
Bishal K. Mainali (538B)
is single. He just finished Internal Medicine residency and will be
joining a private physician practice group in Boston in July. Near
future plans: Will travel to 5 continents, goal being to learn about
as many places and cultures as possible in the next three years with
a long shot goal of writing a book about “my world experiences”.
Ranjan Lal Shrestha (547B)
(M) lives in Wembly, Australia and is a Registrar - Medical Unit, St
John Of God Hospital, Subiaco, WA.
Siddharth Dixit (548B)
(M) is a Dental Surgeon in Kathmandu.
Sabin Gauchan (549B)
(M) is a Doctor, NAMS at the Bir Hospital in Kathmandu.
Sriraj Shrestha (551B)
is a Doctor in Kathmandu.
Sudhir Rajouria (556B)
is a Registered Intern Pharmacist at Beckley Pharmacy, West
Virginia.
Samin Sharma (566B)
(M) is a Doctor in New York Downtown Hospital, New York, USA.
Abanish Rizal (570B)
is married to Pragya and works as a Program Manager at the Center
for International Health and Development, writing proposals for
various international health projects and backstopping them their
launch. He lives in Cambridge, USA.
Ashit Ghimire (578B)
(S) works as a doctor in Kathmandu.
Bikash Gupta (579B)
(M) lives in Long Beach, CA, USA. Bikash is a Cardiac Research
Assistant at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
Jimmy Kayastha (582B)
is a dentist at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation-Dept. of Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, Cleveland, Ohio.
Ashish Upadhyay (584B)
and Mollica Manandhar (585B)
are married and also have daughter. Ashish is the Internal Medicine
Resident at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston and is
going to start Nephrology Fellowship at Boston Medical Center,
Boston, University School of Medicine from July 2007.
Pooja Sherchan (586B)
is a Doctor at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco, USA .
Pooja is married to Krishna Chhetry (503B).
Krishna Pokharel (589B)
is a doctor at BPKHIS.
Dipesh Pokharel (599B)
(M) lives in Oklohoma, USA and is an Internal Medicine Resident
Doctor at OUHSC.
There were a few people whose details couldn’t be compiled.
Manjib N. Shrestha (524B)
is in Australia. Subir Shrestha (532B)
lives in Kathmandu. Erik Shrestha (533B)
lives in the UK. Sishir Malla (541B)
lives in Kathmandu. Suraj Thapa (554B)
(S) lives in Kathmandu. Nabin Thapa (563B)
resides in St Louis, USA. Shailesh SJB Rana (564)
is thought to be in Kathmandu. Anish Karki (573B)
resides in Australia.
We would like to come up
with more detailed notes (as in contacts, status etc.) in the days
to come. Don’t you wish?
|
|
Congratulations and
Best Wishes!!! |
|
We would like to
congratulate the following SEBS members for their wedding this year.
Bhupendra Bilas Pant
(550B)
Tilakram Khanal (804B)
Bharat Kandel (819B)
Prerana Shrestha (874B)
Kamal Thapa (899B)
Bharat and Kamal
We would also like
to congratulate:
All SEBS members who graduated from colleges and universities this
year.
[To include your information in this special section, please send it
to us at
sebsna@sebsonline.org.]
|
| Do you have anything to add to
our next Newsletter? |
| Do you have anything to add to our next
newsletter? Are you organizing any get togethers or other
events? Do let us know at news@sebsonline.org and we
will include it in our next newsletter. You can submit greetings and
photos as well.
Thanks.
Newsletter designed by Bharat Kandel (819B) | |
