When Shikshya Sharma, a native of Nepal, first arrived at MiraCosta College, she felt lost. Then she discovered the college's clubs and resources, and she felt right at home.

“Once I got involved on campus at MiraCosta College, I didn’t feel like I came from Nepal,” Sharma said. “They were like a family to me. Everyone was so accommodating at MiraCosta College. I didn’t feel like I was in a new place.”

Sharma had come to the United States from Nepal in 2022 to pursue her college education. She initially enrolled at Wichita State University in Kansas, but discovered she didn’t like the hot summers and cold winters. She attended MiraCosta College because the application process went smoothly with assistance from MiraCosta’s international students office.

Sharma said that when she first came to MiraCosta in Fall 2022, she felt lonely and confused because she wasn’t involved in any clubs or activities. After getting help from MiraCosta’s career center to create a resume and line up two on-campus jobs, Sharma said she felt more connected to the campus.

“I was able to feel that MiraCosta had so many resources for students like me,” she said. “MiraCosta became like a second home to me.”

Sharma, a computer science major, got involved with the computer science club and the international students club. She got help from MiraCosta’s writing center with essays she had to write for her classes, and the tutoring center offered online assistance with the coding assignments she had for her computer classes. 

The International Students Office helped her find ways to pay for her education.

“If you have any problem, you can reach out to the people and they always have a solution,” Sharma said.

Sharma wanted to let other students know of the many activities at MiraCosta College, so she created a design illustrating all of the organizations on campus. Her design won a college competition to be used on the student planner.

“As I was more involved on campus, I was able to explore different kinds of clubs,” she said. “I want incoming students to take advantage of all the clubs.”

After graduating from MiraCosta in 2023, Sharma transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C. She’s participating in an internship with the National Association of Broadcasters to learn about cloud technology.

After finishing her schooling, Sharma said she would like to return to Nepal and teach computer science there as part of an effort to close the technology gap in that country.

“I want to go back to Nepal and give back to society,” she said.