Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD’s Bidhan Paudel has that air of youthful nonchalance, deceiving you into thinking he looks just like any other student you'd find strolling the halls of Byron P. Steele High School. Beneath that facade is a remarkable story. Bidhan, at the tender age of fifteen, is already in his senior year, ready to graduate in May an astonishing three years ahead of his peers, with a possible acceptance looming into the Ivy League school of his choice, Brown University.
A native of Nepal, Bidhan emigrated to the United States in 2021, along with his parents, Ram and Radha, and an older sister, Diya.
Bidhan is part of the research on how the active ingredient in cannabis, found in the hemp plant, can promote the growth of new brain cells and reduce inflammation, improving the treatment for diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, neuralgia (pain in the nerve pathways) and Dravet Syndrome.
“I aspire to contribute to the pharmaceutical industry,” said Bidhan. “I want to focus on the development of curative medicines for neurological diseases through research on Cannabidiol.
Born in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and approximately 100 miles from Mount Everest, Bidhan’s family lived what he describes as a “lower middle-class' status, where his father was a cell phone vendor and internet access vendor. For Ram Paudel, leaving his home country and putting roots down in the United States boiled down one word.
“Opportunity,” said Ram Paudel, using Bidhan as an interpreter. “The resources here are not comparable to anywhere else in the world. There are not a lot of universities there.”
While he awaits word on whether he’ll be accepted into Brown University, Bidhan continues his walk the halls at Steele HS as an uncommon common 15-year old who aspires to become a neuroscientist and help find treatments and cures for onerous and painful diseases. Wherever he lands, he will be at home. “I want to be back in the country I came from and also in the United States,” Bidhan said. Bidhan Paudel, and his immediate family have gratitude as a thread that defines them, cognizant of the fact their future could not be as bright as his new country.
Source: Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD Website
Blog By: Etash Chandran, Intern, UT