Student Success: Aiti Rai Started MCC as a Refugee and Will Finish as a Citizen

Manchester, Conn. (October 3, 2016) – If ever there was a person who proves the words of Abraham Lincoln, “That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well,” it’s Manchester Community College student Aiti Rai. Rai was born in, and spent the first 11 years of her life in Nepal, at a Bhutanese refugee camp.

She left the camp and immigrated to the United States in 2011. After overcoming her obstacles like learning English and adjusting to the vastly different culture, Rai became the salutatorian at Hartford Public High School’s Law and Government Academy.

Last year she enrolled at MCC, and recently she realized the dream of American citizenship. “I felt so excited when they told me I was a citizen,” she said. “I couldn’t stop smiling. There were so many opportunities here. Right when they told me I was officially a citizen, I started to think about all my dreams that were possible now that I was here.”

At MCC she is majoring in Liberal Arts and Science and is currently interning for the Kenneth J. Krayeske Law Office. She also participates in the Student Training and Academic Retention Service (STARS) program as a mentor.

In addition, she is an advocate for the Rising Bhutanese Artists program. This program is based out of Salt Lake City Utah and it focuses on sharing the talents of the Bhutanese people to help preserve their culture. “I have so many plans for myself, but right now I am just taking every opportunity I can get,” she said.

After she graduates she plans to go to UConn to continue her education. “I am so grateful to be in America,” she said. “Though I am grateful, I know nothing is guaranteed. In the meantime I will take advantage of the opportunity that America, and MCC, has to offer.”

Along her long, difficult road to America, Rai did not complain about being thirsty, hungry or bored. “When I was young, I found many ways to have fun and play with friends,” she recalled. “We played with mud, sticks and rocks. Those were our toys.” She also explained that she stayed busy by helping her mother at work and then eventually acquiring her own job at the age of nine so she could buy clothes for herself.

“When I explain how it was in my camp, people look so concerned. But I just explain to them that the mud and bamboo homes were all I had ever known. That was home to me.”

Though it was home to her, there were still many tribulations of living at the camp. “Every two weeks we would get a new ration of rice. There are ten people in my family, so trying to make that last was definitely difficult. Many times I feared hunger. Even now with all the food here I still eat once in the morning and once in the evening. It is just what I am used to.”

Rai also stated that water was scarce, as well. Usually people would only get one shower a week. The water would only run for two hours. Within this time families would have to fill their water jugs, buckets or any water container. “When it came time to wash clothes, most families decided to save their water, so they would wash them in the river,” she said. “This was okay, but in the summer the river would flood which would result in many deaths.”

She added, “I care a lot about nature, I always have. So even when I came to the United States, I remained aware and conscious of the water I use,” she said. “If I lived on such little water then, I can live on a little bit more here and help to conserve it.”

Her long-term aspirations include becoming a lawyer, and working for the United Nations or a U.S. embassy. “I want to be involved in the government in some way,” she said. “I want to help other people like me and my family.”