Subash Gurung

Salvaging a degree from the ruins of an earthquake

As Subash Gurung surveyed his hostel room between bites of his cheeseburger, a stunned loneliness swept over him. Earlier that day he’d learned that his baggage had been lost on his journey to Vancouver from Nepal. All he had left was a small backpack, a bus ticket to Kamloops, and a sense of trepidation about his new life in Canada.

Less than a week earlier Subash had gotten word from the passport office in Kathmandu that he’d been granted a student visa. He dropped everything, said goodbye to friends and family, and hurriedly made travel arrangements, arriving at Thomson Rivers University on the first day of the fall term.

Subash’s positive outlook and easy-going nature helped him navigate those first daunting days of signing up for classes and finding a place to live. By the time he transferred to UVic’s electrical engineering program a year later, he thought the biggest challenges were behind him. He was wrong.

Nature intervenes

Subash was at his desk on a co-op placement in April, 2015 when the news broke about the devastating earthquake in Nepal. He dialed home over and over, frantically trying to make contact with his family, finally hearing from them that they were safe and well in his home town of Pokhara.

His cousin had just given birth in hospital. Although the building was badly damaged, she and her baby were safely evacuated.

Subash’s initial relief was soon replaced with fear about his future. Somewhat miraculously, Pokhara—just 70 km from the quake’s epicentre—wasn’t destroyed by the quake, but the economic aftershocks were severe across the country.

Subash funded his tuition by saving money during co-op placements and a 20-hour-per-week job at a local pizza place, but he also relied on support from the family business in Nepal. After the quake, his parents couldn’t send any money. They tried to sell property or secure loans to no avail. Subash still had four courses to complete, and his savings weren’t enough to cover the fees. It looked like his last five years of hard work was ruined.

Your support puts his degree back within reach

He felt ashamed to ask for help, but could think of no other way to salvage his degree. He explained to a financial aid officer how he was a few thousand dollars short on tuition. Subash couldn’t believe it when he found out there were emergency funds, like the Daniel Jacob Memorial Bursary, to help students exactly like him, who would be forced to postpone or quit university without that support.

“When I received the award I felt like I was not alone in my journey. I felt really blessed, and empowered to do almost anything,” said Subash. He thought his degree was slipping away, but now felt it was again within reach.

Subash graduated in April 2016, and is waiting once again for paperwork that will enable him to travel back to Nepal for the first time in six years and return here for post-graduate work. He has lots of family and friends to visit, including his new niece, born in the midst of the earthquake that almost ruined both of their lives.