Suman Shrestha traveled over 10,000 miles from Kathmandu, Nepal, to attend Southeast. Shrestha relocated to Cape Girardeau on Aug. 6, with his wife, Timila, and their three-year-old son, Samartha. This is the first time he and his family have been in the United States.

Nepal is a landlocked country located between China and India on the continent of Asia. It is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of the population living below the poverty line. Nepal is home to Mount Everest, one of the highest peaks in the world, and the birthplace of Lord Buddha. The primary language spoken is Nepali and the primary religion is Hindu.

Shrestha had a strong desire to pursue an MBA degree in the United States. He had been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Hawaii, but the living expenses were too high, he said. Then, Shrestha looked at coming to the Midwest area of the United States, and found Southeast while searching for universities on the Internet.

"Once I found Southeast's Web site, I went through the MBA program's curriculum and noticed a broad range of electives with the finance requirements I was looking for," Shrestha said. "The College of Business also has excellent faculty with almost 100 percent holding doctoral degrees, and it has a wonderful facility with advanced technology."

Shrestha will be at Southeast for the next two years completing the general management track of the MBA program. He has a graduate assistantship in the Harrison College of Business and will be working with business faculty. Once he completes his MBA degree, Shrestha plans to work in the United States for one year to gain practical experience to take back to Nepal, he said.

"I believe the enrollment by Suman Shrestha in our MBA program is an indication of the perceived overall value of the program by the broader business community in the world," said Dr. Kenneth Heischmidt, director of the MBA program at Southeast. "The overall value of the MBA education offered by the Harrison College of Business does compete favorably with offerings from other Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited programs in the nation. The AACSB is the premier accreditation body for business education in the world. Our educational quality and value are an integrated mix of both superior University and community efforts."

While in the U.S., Shrestha said he would like to share with people about Nepal. He said he also is interested in helping the poor by getting involved in the International Horizons Program at Southeast. Shrestha has some friends living in this country and would like to visit them, as well as, visit Los Angeles, Calif., New York, N.Y., and Washington D.C., he added.

Shrestha completed his undergraduate degree in commerce with a specialization in finance from Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He finished in the 1st Division, which is an equivalent to a 4.0 grade point average in the United States. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Shrestha continued to his education in a semester-long program called "Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis" at the Harvard Institute of International Development (HIID) of Harvard University in India.

After completing his academic education, Shrestha joined the Nepal Stock Exchange in 1992. He served as an officer with the role of looking into the market operations and research. The stock exchange was formally created in Nepal in 1993 with the support of the U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID). In 1996, Shrestha left the stock exchange to work with Ace Finance Company. He served as the chief operating officer for the investment company for six years. Ace Finance Company is one of the top companies in Nepal's financial market. Shrestha took a leave of absence from Ace Finance Company to pursue his graduate degree in the U.S., he said.