Hello to the Steemit community! I’ve been on and off lurking on Steem for months now but now that my semester at school is coming to an end, I felt like it’s time to write my first post here. So here is my introduceyourself post for you all so I can feel like I’m officially a part of this wonderful community!

Cabernet

I go by “cabernet” because one of my favorite types of wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. I currently live in the Midwest in the United States and have been living here for almost a decade now. Originally, I am from a small mountainous country in South Asia, Nepal. I was born in a small town surrounded by beautiful mountains on the East, West, and North and the biggest forest of the country on the South. Growing up with scenic hills, mountains, rivers, and beautiful landscapes around me all the time, I LOVE nature; being outside and soaking up the raw beauty of this planet gives me a different kind of high. Here’s a picture of me right before hiking up one of the trails in Colorado Springs when I first visited Colorado 3 summers ago:

I like adventure and thrill. I never learned how to swim and the fact that I’m terrified of large bodies of water makes me stay away from activities like rafting. The only adventurous thing I’ve crossed off my bucket list would be paragliding. Last December when I visited my family and friends in Nepal for the first time since I had moved to the US, my cousins and I made this last-minute decision and just went for it:

Culture Shock

Moving to the US in my mid-teenage years and adapting to the culture here was quite a challenge at first. The culture shock got me good and I was mostly quiet and kept to myself the first couple of years. As I started college, I was more or less compelled to get out of my comfort zone. I started understanding the norms here and as my accent got better, I felt more confident speaking with people, asking questions, and listening. After my sophomore year of college, I became a lot more social and approachable. And the rest is history… Overall, I understand what it’s like to move across the world and not have a lot of things in common with people that you interact with on the daily. So, when I come across people who are new to the US in my university, I feel what they must be going through.

I’m a semester away from finishing up graduate school with my Master in Computer Science degree. There are a lot of international students in my college that come from countries all over the world and because of what I went through with culture shock when I first moved here, I’ve started striking up conversations with people that sit next to me in class; especially the international students. This isn’t difficult to do for me now. It helps that I’m a good listener. So, I start by asking questions and things just flow from there. After all, who doesn’t like talking about themselves, right? 😊 I like hearing stories first-hand from them; listening to their stories about how they came to the US and to our University, what their life was like back in their country, how they feel about living in the states now, etc. helps me learn a lot about people and their cultures. I enjoy listening more than talking in most situations and I think this has made me friendly, approachable, and somewhat consoling.

Passions

Despite growing up in a very patriarchal society, I was fortunate enough to have parents that believed that everyone deserves equal treatment and equal education. Because of that, my parents always motivated me and my siblings to do our best and give our best at everything we did. Funny enough, my college major ended up being Computer Science which put me back into environment that was mainly male-dominated which made me work harder to excel at my field of study. In the future, I want to promote STEM and Women In Science and Engineering back in my home country where women still lack proper education and equity in the society. I believe that education is the key to leading a fruitful life and everyone deserves to be allowed to open their minds to the endless possibilities, ideas, and opportunities literacy has to offer.

I want all women, especially young girls, to understand that looks shouldn’t be the only thing that will bring food to their plates or get others’ attention. Instead of seeking successful partners, I dream of a world where young girls strive for excellence themselves. This, in turn, will scare off most people that still dwell on primitive thinking that women are only to sit still and look pretty for them to show off. With social media taking over every aspect of our lives, I think this is one the main lessons we can teach young minds.

Interests

I am very interested in travelling, especially to places that are naturally beautiful. My travel-to list consists of countries like Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, mountains of Canada, Peru, Greece, Indonesia, Philippines, etc. Once I graduate, I first plan on travelling across my home country since I didn’t really have a chance to do that when I was 15 and left. While I’m there, I plan on bungee jumping, sky-diving, lots of hiking, and fully experiencing the beauty of my homeland.

Another major part of my life is fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle. I started lifting about 3 years ago and have continued this journey ever since. Over the course of the years, I’ve learned so much about good form, eating healthy, and keeping the mind and body both fit. I practice transcendental meditation (TM) as it helps me organize my thoughts while helping me keep the college stress level as low as possible.
Some of my other interests include photography, watching documentaries, horror/psychological movies, and stand-up comedy, self-improvement books, and doing some fake “photoshoots” to occasionally re-ignite the little bit of interest I have in modeling which I never really pursued. Here is me in my cultural outfit modeling for my sister :D

I grew up with dogs, cats, cows, goats, pigeons, and chicken always around our mini-farm in my childhood home so I have a soft-spot for animals. Ever since I moved to the states, I’ve wanted to have a pet but with school being hectic and apartments being difficult when it comes to pets, once I graduate and move down South for my job, I plan on getting a little puppy of my own.

Overall, I look forward to graduating, starting a new life in Texas, and learning, excelling, and growing along the way.

So, this is me, cabernet, telling you a little bit about myself. Thank you so much for reading!