Student Highlights

As a web developer for Military REACH, I serve as a full stack developer (working on the front- and back-end) for the team. My role is to bridge the thin line between front-end (user experience) and back-end development (website services/functionalities).

I’ve enjoyed working with the other members on the Web Development team, along with members from the full team. Regarding assignments, most have been joyful, but in particular, I loved when Allison Tidwell, REACH Undergraduate Researcher, proposed the idea of the REACH Dictionary . Dustin Elston, REACH Graphic Designer, designed the blueprint of the Dictionary, and Kate Abbate, REACH Project Manager, seamlessly conveyed everything to me. Once the Dictionary was ready for web development, we managed to add the wonderful newborn feature to the website within roughly a week!

I am from Nepal, the country with Mount Everest, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, and of the brave “Gurkha” warriors. It was an easy adjustment moving to Auburn. The climate here is similar to Kathmandu, Nepal and the people here are very helpful.
What surprised me when moving to the States, was that even when commercial businesses are closed, they leave the lights on in the building. I had never seen something like that before moving to the States, and that surprised me the most! It’s probably due to security concerns, but there must be an alternative way to go about it while conserving energy.

We have a festival in my culture called Tihar, also known as the festival of light, in which we worship for five straight days, each day being dedicated to a particular cause. Amongst those days three are dedicated to animals - crow (it signifies the messenger of death), dog (it signifies the guards of heaven/hell), cow (it signifies prosperity and wealth). This part of the culture in which we have celebrations for other forms of life is a refreshing reminder of the significance-of-self.

Besides improving my coding skills (particularly of JAVA and JavaScript ), I have had the opportunity to work with great team players in Military REACH, and, therefore, have had the opportunity to learn problem solving adeptness, readiness for adaptability, and the virtue of collective efforts. All of these skills will surely come in handy in the near future.