Namrata GR Raut, PhD

It is early morning, and I am struggling to wake up. One of the reasons for this struggle is I had a busy week in the laboratory and secondly, it is a Christmas week. Being a post-doctoral fellow in the research lab is fun and at times demanding. After wrapping up all the experiments lined up for the year, I took off from the lab for Christmas and New Year. So, I am looking back and analysing where I come from and where have I ended up.

I am from Khajuri-Chanha VDC in Dhanusa-1, Nepal, and raised in Janakpur-Dham. Growing up, the thing that kept me and my sisters grounded was the teachings from my parents and grandparents. Those teachings have always helped us to pave our path. Also, being from the Terai and only three girls in the family, society has always frowned eyes upon, but our parents helped us to take all those critics and positively shape our career.

One of the vital teachings that we all three uphold high is to be positive in any circumstances. This was channelised in us by our mother and another thing that guided us was, never let anyone convince you that you cannot do something.

I came to the United States of America (USA) in August of 2011 and it marks my 10th year in the USA. I came as an undergraduate student and after completing my Ph.D., now I am a post-doctoral fellow at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. When I was in Nepal, the things that attracted me to pursue my education in the USA were cutting-edge research facilities and the best education system. While continuing my studies, I got ample opportunity to present my work at different national and international conferences that allowed me to meet people from around the world.

Apart from science, it provided me an opportunity to glance at the world as people from different parts of the world brought their piece of culture and beliefs with them. One thing that captivated me when I talked to students in my classes was, wherever we come from, we all have some sorts of discipline to live our way of life. That brings back some of my childhood memories. I remember, not following rules was one of the things that I always loved to do. But as I grew up, I realised that having those rules helped me to be disciplined.  The USA has people from all over the world and we can learn new things every day and sometimes we can even tend to lose our identity. Coming from Nepal, in the beginning, the one thing that my discipline helped me to achieve was not to lose my identity.

As I started my doctoral training, apart from the support of my friends and family, discipline and meditation helped me to cope with the stress of research and classes. One thing that looks captivating while browsing different universities while applying are the success stories of students, but it takes sweat and blood to be in that position. Be its classes to be taken or long hours working in the lab to get the results, it takes patience and perseverance to keep going with the same zeal and motivation.

Apart from graduate study, graduate assistantships also comes with added work load to fulfill the 20hrs work load every week that runs over time most of the time. Some days were hard and all I used to do was crying in my car or my apartment. But then I remember all the teachings from my parents and guidance from my sister, Dr. Toniya Raut that helped me to meditate and perform my regular yoga and not miss the discipline that we were raised with. With all these hardships, the sign of relief when you are pronounced with doctorate title is worth all the joys and tears I have been through.

Although rebel as a teenager, I take pride in following the teachings and try to protect my identity from where I come from. Foreign land does incorporate a soft corner for the country and people but now I take pride in the way Nepali families raise their kids and incorporate some teachings in us. I wish and hope that our generations will be vocal about the teachings that our parents incorporated in us. It is human tendency to praise the success stories, but I am not aware of any success story that has been achieved without patience, discipline, and determination.

(The author is a Post-doctoral Fellow at Cincinnati Children Hospital Medical Centre, Cincinnati, Ohio,USA)