My Scholarship Essay by Santosh Kumar Acharya

I almost died of an illness, witnessed my refugee camp burn to the ground and moved halfway across the planet - all before my fourteenth birthday. I was born in 1995 in a refugee camp in Nepal. The United Nations High Committee for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Program (WFP) were helping people who were refugees. We lived in a small tent near a forest. The UNHCR provided clothes for people in the refugee camp and the WFP sometimes gave rice, vegetables and other food every month or two weeks. To make matters worse, people from outside the camp came at night to steal many things from the refugees. They stole money, clothes, rice, and other things. In that forest lived elephants, monkeys, foxes, lions and deer. There was no electricity and we had to walk a long way to get water and firewood from the forest. If the police saw you cutting wood they would chase you and put you in jail.

Many people got sick there because of germs and viruses. Many people died of those diseases. I was one of those people who got sick and was sick for almost five months. My dad was very worried. He took me to India to obtain traditional medicine. I could not eat any food and could not talk. I was kept alive by drinking water and medicinal plants, but we had no modern medicine from the hospital. I had jaundice.

My courage helped me through my sickness, and after I got better, I walked and ate food, worked in my dad’s carpentry shop, and played with my friends.
In April 2006 a fire engulfed the refugee camp at night. Our neighbors shouted frantically, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” Many people started running. I did not believe that the fire would burn our house. My mom said, “Run! Run, Santosh! The fire is approaching our house and it is going to burn!”

We were going to lose everything in the house. Nobody was able to stop the fire. Eventually, the fire burned all thirteen hundred houses in the refugee camp including our house. It was a disastrous moment for me and my family. We had no money, no food or anything. Whatever we had was burned by the fire.

We had to spend two years in the forest waiting to come to America. After one year the UNHCR started sending people to seven different countries like the United States, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. When we heard this it was the most exciting news for us. We are some of those people that were able to come to the United States. I was only 13 years old and it was so difficult to spend 26 hours in the airplane to come to the Minnesota airport.

Now I am 16 and I live with my parents and siblings in Minneapolis. I am working hard in school to graduate and I want to use my education to help my family. I hope from reading my story you can understand why college is important to me.

After I graduate from high school, I want to attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I would like to major in Computer Science or Biology and later go to Medical school. I want to complete a four year degree and then go to graduate school. I sometimes daydream about what it will feel like. In my dreams I am always wearing a scarlet cap and gown and holding a speech where I get to thank everyone who helped me. It is a long list. If I am accepted at the University then I promise to be the best student and person I can be. I look forward to all the opportunities and challenges I will face. When I graduate from college I will be the first person in my family to have done so.

I think computer science is a good way to use technology to make our lives better and improve communication between countries of the world. If I become a doctor I would like to help people in other parts of the world where there is very little health care service. I am very determined to reach my goals. I believe the hardship of my life has made me very strong and with much empathy for other people. I know it will be many long and difficult years. But my life as a refugee taught me tenacity and courage. I want to serve other immigrants and especially other young people who need examples of intelligent and courageous and dedicated adults. To reach my goals it is important to have an excellent education.