“My first language is Nepali and first, when I came to the United States, I had to be very courageous. Because it’s a new country, it's a new culture, new food, everything is different for me. When I didn't know how to speak English, I was very scared.

“When I came to high school, I was like, ‘I gotta be courageous. I gotta, like, be strong and then, learn English. Just try.” And I did it. Then I had this opportunity to write a book about my story. I did anything to be courageous. I played soccer, and joined our agricultural program. And that helped me a lot.

“It was my grandma who inspired me to be very involved in agriculture, because in Nepal, I used to see her working in the garden, and growing vegetables. And I was like, ‘Wow, I'm gonna do that, too.’ And then, when I came to Aiken, I was very happy when I saw that agriculture program. I joined them and then yeah, and then here I am.

“So our garden is kind of like it's my home every time I go there. I spend a lot of time there. So we focus our garden on community and then on culture as well.”