A journey of becoming.
I don’t have a perfectly planned story.
I have followed curiosity, listened to the signs around me, taken a few risks, met extraordinary people and tried to remain open to whatever possibility appeared next.
That journey has taken me from a small village in southern Nepal to Kathmandu, Australia and different spaces of youth development, education, peacebuilding and social innovation.
And I am still walking.
Exploring Possibilities
For me, exploring possibilities means choosing action and optimism without ignoring reality.
Every moment has something to teach us.
There may be things we cannot control. There may be circumstances we never asked for. But there is almost always something we can do from our side.
Instead of stopping at
“Why is this happening?”
I try to ask
“What can I learn from this?”
“What is possible from here?”
That question has quietly shaped many of the decisions I have made in my life.
Education should be about challenging assumptions and exploring possibilities.
I believe education should help people become more capable of navigating life, not simply more capable of passing examinations.
It should encourage people to question assumptions, understand others, solve problems, collaborate, experiment, fail, reflect and try again.
Ultimately, education should help an individual realise:
I have agency.
I can do something.
A room full of people agreeing to not know something for a while.
Young people, holding their own signs.
Young people are hope to me.
When I was young, someone stood by me.
Someone’s encouragement, guidance or belief can sometimes change the direction of a person’s life.
I want to be that person for someone else.
This is why I continue to work with young people.
Not because I believe I have all the answers, but because I believe young people deserve spaces where they can ask questions, explore possibilities and discover their own agency.
I learned about agency before I knew the word.
When I was in Grade 2, I was new to Kathmandu and didn’t even know much about basketball.
Our school team was playing in the final. They were struggling, and the crowd seemed quiet.
I couldn’t play.
But I could cheer.
So I started shouting encouragement from the side.
I was one small voice in a large crowd.
Eventually, our team found its momentum and won.
Some of the players later came to me and told me that my cheering had helped them.
I still remember that moment.
You don’t always need to be at the centre of the action to make a difference.
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