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When we gathered to celebrate this year, a wave of memories washed over me. Sitting in the Creighton Hall common room, surrounded by the familiar faces of my fellow Nepali Student Organization (NEPSO) members, I was suddenly hit with the realization that so much of my college life has been shaped within this very community. In that moment, it all flashed before me — the first awkward dinners, the chaotic event planning, the neverending talks, cooking together, watching movies together, the laughter, the shared homesickness, the unspoken care and the countless moments that words can never fully capture.

As a senior, the event hit differently this year, especially as it was organized in March, close to the end of the semester. I felt like I wasn’t just attending another NEPSO event; I was witnessing something I had helped build. This space, these people, this feeling of home away from home — all of these people had become my chosen family. These events we organize as part of the NEPSO board aren’t just dates on a calendar. They have become rituals that ground us and remind us of home — and these memories are stitched into my Íøºì±¬ÁÏ experience.

When I first became involved with NEPSO in the fall of 2021, it wasn’t through a grand event or formal meeting. It was through dinner in the Dining Hall, which was awkward and quiet, but also deeply comforting. Dechen — our resident advisor at the time and NEPSO’s president — was the first person who invited us, the new Nepali students, to meet our seniors. That simple gesture of reaching out and bringing us together was the beginning of something that would anchor me throughout my time at Mount Holyoke.

In that first year, NEPSO was still recovering from the pause that COVID-19 had placed on everything. Events were rare, but as homesickness quietly settled, we clung to those few shared moments, however small. Slowly, those fragments began forming something bigger again in 2021.

That year, Himalayan Night returned. This is NEPSO’s biggest annual event, where we showcase Nepali culture through dance, music and food for the broader Mount Holyoke community. I had heard stories about Himalayan Night from older students and even family friends who were alums — it was something we knew we had to bring back after the COVID-19 pause. We first years were eager and ready, so with Dechen and a few board members, we began planning. I took on as much as I could — publicizing the event, coordinating dances and supporting the music performances by playing instruments for others. I also performed a song and danced in all of the group performances. From start to finish, I was fully immersed in every part of the event. The laughter, the energy, the collective excitement — it all came together to create one of my fondest memories with NEPSO.

That Himalayan Night experience — and witnessing what was possible when we came together — lit a fire in many of us. We didn’t want that sense of connection and belonging to fade. So, the following year, I joined NEPSO as head of publicity. My focus was to rebuild the rhythm of our community with my fellow NEPSO members. We began with bonding events for the incoming first years, hosting nights — where we gathered and shared mo:mo, a beloved steamed Nepali dumpling — as well as . These simple gatherings grounded us and reminded us of home. As we grew closer, we also started thinking more intentionally about inclusivity. Nepal is a country of immense diversity, with over 100 ethnic groups, and each of us carries unique ways of remembering and celebrating home. Our NEPSO community has about 25 members, and we come from various backgrounds — . We wanted our events to reflect that richness and honor the multiplicity of our traditions and identities.That’s how we thought of hosting Losar.

Losar is the New Year celebration observed by several Buddhist communities in Nepal, particularly the Tamang, Gurung, Sherpa and Tibetan people. Rooted in the Buddhist lunar calendar, Losar is more than just a new year — it’s a time for prayer, food, community and reflection. Though celebrated differently in each household, the essence remains the same, with a focus on joy, renewal and connection. There are three main types of Losar: (celebrated by the Gurung community), (celebrated by the Tamang) and (celebrated by the Tibetan and Sherpa communities). The tradition itself has strong ties to Tibetan culture and Buddhism, and its influence has shaped how it’s celebrated across Nepal.

At Mount Holyoke, we began organizing Losar to reflect the diversity within NEPSO and to ensure that every member could see their heritage represented. Last year, we celebrated Sonam Losar by making , ordering Tibetan food from and creating space for storytelling and learning. It wasn’t just a celebration; it was an act of recognition, honoring the different ways our members feel connected to home and reminding us that there is more than one way to be Nepali.

This year’s Losar was another quiet event. Once again, we celebrated Sonam Losar in a smaller setting, with just our NEPSO members and a few South Asian friends. Some of our members who celebrate Losar at home shared stories about its history and significance, and we played a Kahoot trivia game on Nepal — laughing at how much we remembered and sometimes forgot about our own history.

Meanwhile, Himalayan Night has continued to grow throughout my time at NEPSO. In our junior year, we partnered with the Weissman Center for Leadership and learned the power of collaboration. We introduced culturally themed food stations and expanded our performances. We hosted this year’s Himalayan Night in the fall of 2024, centered around the theme of Nepali festivals. Through dance, music and storytelling, we showcased how we celebrate Dashain, Tihar, Teej, Losar and more — with each performance offering a glimpse into the traditions that have shaped us.

Organizing this year’s Himalayan Night wasn’t easy. As a small cultural org, pulling off something of that scale came with its challenges, especially when it came to funding. We reached out to departments across campus and received generous support from the Weissman Center for Leadership, Community and Belonging, the Five College Consortium, the Consulting Club, and several academic departments, all of which allowed us to organize Himalayan Night on the scale we achieved in 2024. Friends traveled from as far as Clark University, Williams College and Hollins University to be part of it. That night reminded us of what’s possible when we come together not just as organizers but as a community rooted in shared culture, care and celebration.

All these moments, big and small, are what define NEPSO for me. It’s more than just a student organization — it’s a space of trust, sisterhood and quiet resilience. Whether we’re organizing an event, checking in with each other late at night, or simply sitting side by side in comfortable silence, there’s a bond that holds us together. We come from different places, speak different dialects and carry different traditions, but we share the same longing for home. There’s something unspoken in the way we look at each other — a quiet recognition, a shared understanding. It’s in the jokes and mannerisms that don’t need explaining, in the subtle nods when a song from home plays, in the way we all know the exact dance steps to a certain tune, in the effortless slipping between languages mid-conversation.

Being part of NEPSO means being surrounded by people who just get it, who know what it means to miss home and who’ve made this place feel like one. And in that shared ease, that unspoken connection, I’ve found something rare: a chosen family and a feeling that I will carry with me long after I leave this campus.