Sometimes deciding where to go to college can be as easy as a friend choosing a location and you also going there too.   That is the case with Kusang Tamang. He and a friend are attending Bemidji State University.  “I am from Nepal and that is in South Asia.  I decided to come over here mainly because of my friend and he was trying to come over here too,” he says.  “ So he needed somebody to help him with the application and those kind of things so I thought I would just apply too and we both got in together in the same school and it just started off like that and I am here now.”

For a person looking to attend a university in a small-town with not a lot of distractions, Kusang says this is a place to consider.  “Bemidji State University is a public school.  It is a relatively small school about five thousand students and its in Northern Minnesota,” he says.  “The locale is really nice over here, a small town, its right by the lake and there are lots of activities like outdoor activities tons of them and also on campus activities and tons of organizations where students can get involved with,” he says.  “I’m personally involved with international student organization.  I was the president for a year and it was really nice, “he adds.”  “There are other organizations too like clubs and there are tons of things to do for the students here, a nice place to study, not a lot of distractions like other big city universities so I like it here.  It’s a nice place for a student.”

Kusang admits that for one semester he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania before transfering to Bemidji.  Kusang says after working for a newspaper company back home, it was clear that Mass Communications was the major for him.  “When I was back home I worked for a newspaper company, an ‘English Daily’ and I decided to go into Mass Communications as a result of that, “he says.”  “ It was really interesting and I liked it very much even though I just worked for half a year.  So I am studying Mass Comm. Right now with emphasis in Public Relations and Advertising and I think it is a really interesting major and I am really liking it.”

When it comes to the classroom size and how American students interact with instructors, Kusang says that took some adjusting to from what he is use to back in Nepal.  “I would say the class sizes some of the classes are really huge like two hundred people in one class and I have never been in a class that big before and when I first came here it was a bit intimidating to speak out in the classroom and the teachers they are so open and they are like friends,” he says.  “So professors don’t mind if you call them by their first name and they was something that is unheard of in Nepal because over there we always respect our teachers and we always call them ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ so that was kind of different for me, I enjoy it,” he says.  “I enjoy the openness of the school.”

He also says seeing snow was a first for him, but learning to snowboard has been an ultimate high.  “Being in Minnesota, being in a cold place I have never seen snow.  I’ve never seen snow even though I am from Nepal I have never seen snow so I kind of like the winter here when it is not so harsh and one thing that I experienced here that I am sure I would never have experienced in Nepal is snowboarding,” he says.  “I came here and my American friends taught me how to snowboard and its been like two winters now that I have been snowboarding and it is really great,” he says.  “I am glad that I can do snowboarding here and in Nepal there is no way you can do snowboarding.”

This is Kusang's last year at Bemidji State University. He says the mass communication field is small, but he is optimistic that once he does return back home to Nepal, he will be able to work in his field.  “I was in Nepal just a few months ago and I really didn’t see a lot of public relations and mass comm. Job opportunities, but I saw some similar positions like in radio stations or in newspaper companies and there are some advertising companies too, but its growing, its small,” he says.  “It’s a small industry now, but its growing so I think by the time I graduate and get some experience here in the U.S. and by the time I go to Nepal I think I would have a pretty good chance of getting a job there.