(Editor’s note: This week, the Monitor will publish a series of stories exploring how students of all ages are staying engaged with the community while learning from home.)
Bibek Darjee stood on the deck of his apartment Saturday morning and saw one of his high school teachers standing outside in the parking lot, waving at him.
Zanna Blaney was holding a framed diploma, balloons and crimson mortarboard.
“Are you ready to graduate today?” she said, beaming up at him.
Darjee opened his front door and walked out onto his front lawn to meet her.
“Very ready,” he said, returning her smile, taking the mortarboard and placing it on his head.
Darjee, 23, is one of a handful of graduates in Concord’s Adult Diploma Program, run by Second Start, which provides educational programming for adults and non-traditional learners. Usually, Darjee would graduate in a ceremony with his peers, but COVID-19 has made it difficult for schools to hold typical commencement gatherings.
Blaney, Director of Adult Diploma Program at Second Start, said it was important to give the graduates of the adult education program – many of whom have to overcome tremendous barriers to attend school – recognition for their hard work.
She had stopped by the homes of two other graduates for individual graduation ceremonies earlier that week, and planned to do more.
When Darjee came to the United States from a Bhutanese refugee camp in 2017, he could barely speak any English. He will be the first in his family to attend college when he starts at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in the fall.
Darjee was surrounded by his family on Saturday – who stood at a distance from him on the lawn, their arms filled with flowers to celebrate his accomplishment.
“I’m proud,” he said. “Most of my friends who are the same age, they have not graduated. They didn’t get the chance. But I had people who believed in me, who gave me a chance, and now I have the diploma.”
Darjee, whose family is from Nepal, spent his childhood living in a camp with thousands of other refugees.
He said life was difficult at the camp. His family struggled for money and many of his relatives weren’t able to pursue an education.
“Life was hard in the refugee camp,” he said. “Everything was impossible to do. People (had) dreams and didn’t have any hope of fulfilling any of those dreams.”
In 2007, the United States government agreed to resettle more than 80,000 Bhutanese Refugees in the United States. Darjee’s family applied for resettlement in 2009. After eight years and dozens of interviews with officials, they finally made it to the New Hampshire in 2017.
Darjee vowed to his family that he would work hard to earn them a better life.
“We face a lot of difficulties because none of my family is educated,” Darjee said. “We are thinking that we could not do anything in the United States. My family believes in me and I convince them that we can do everything in the United States.”
When he arrived in the United States at 19, everything was foreign. He was enrolled in ninth grade at Concord High.
He took some English classes back in the refugee camp, but didn’t have much experience speaking.
While slowly learning a new language, navigating the Concord High campus itself was a challenge. It took him half a year not to get lost getting to his classes, he said. In Nepal, all of his classes were usually in one room.
Even dealing with the weather – Darjee had never seen snow before – was new. He had to figure out how to get to school during snowstorms.
However, Darjee took those challenges in stride. He stayed after school to get extra help from teachers and took night classes at Second Start
Blaney began the ceremony thanking Darjee and his family for attending his graduation.
“I realize this is not a typical celebration and certainly not one that adequately reflects all of the hard work that Bibek has given to earn his degree,” she said. “However, under the circumstances, I think that this is pretty special.”
Blaney spoke of Darjee’s accomplishments – how much his language skills have improved, and the 85% he earned in chemistry, his most challenging subject last year.
She talked about Darjee’s passion for Nepali traditional dancing, which he shared with her and his classmates at school.
She said the transition to remote learning has been difficult for a lot of adult learners in her program.
“It’s not ideal for our population we work with, they just have a lot of tough situations right now,” she said. “We’ve lost some students going online. We’ve lent out Chromebooks to as many students that need it, help people get access to free Wi-Fi, but even supporting them in that way, there’s just so many other stresses.”
Adults have been struggling with childcare, losing work or working unpredictable schedules, she said.
Darjee has been balancing his schoolwork with a job at Walmart through the pandemic. It’s not been easy, he said.
However, Saturday was a happy day.
It wasn’t the graduation ceremony Darjee expected. Still, he couldn’t shake the smile from his face.
“I’m so grateful to my parents. I really want to thank all teachers for believing in me,” he said. “It’s difficult not to be having a big event with a lot of people, but I’m still a graduate. I’m very happy.”
Blaney handed him the diploma and wished him luck.
“Believe in yourself and keep dancing,” she said. “Congrats Bibek.”