Kathmandu: He hails from Udayapur, a remote district in eastern hill of Nepal. He passed his School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examination in 2003 from Shri Nandi Ratri Secondary School in Kathmandu. Then he studied for an ISC degree at Amrit Science Campus. This was only a beginning point of what he would become in the future. He wanted to study medicine, the discipline that requires a lot of money for a person from the middle class and low income family to invest in. It was not possible for him to do so owing to the poor financial situation of the family.
Muktinath Dahal, however, wanted to study MBBS and become a doctor anyway. The only way he could do it was through the scholarship. So he appeared for the scholarship examination, but he was not successful. He appeared for such an examination one more time and yet he was not successful.
He did not give up.
Today, Muktinath’s dream has come true. After making efforts for 17 long years and for 40th attempt, he made it. “On the first day, it was like a dream for me. Now that dream has come true. It felt like coming out from a lost place and taking a breath,” said Dahal.
Studying science was more difficult for him than he thought, for in Nepali medium government school where he studied, all other subjects but English was taught in English medium. Despite the language issue, he studied hard in ISC and accomplished the degree.
It was not his dream to become a doctor from his childhood. Neither his family had pressured him. Growing up in financial poverty, he decided to become a doctor while studying ISC.
“I grew up amid poverty. I studied in a government school. While I was studying ISC, I dreamed of studying MBBS,” he said.
He started preparing himself after deciding to study MBBS. For a couple of years, he prepared himself. After that he appeared for his first MBBS exam. He was not successful. Then he made second, third, and fourth attempts but in vain.
This was slowly eating away his confidence but he did not give up. He continued appearing for the scholarship examination. “No matter how many times I failed, I was committed that I would keep trying until I succeeded,” said Dahal. “As I got older, I also began to get frustrated. But I had vowed not to die without getting a scholarship for MBBS.”
He says that the study materials, time and competition got tougher with his age. He spent 15 years of his life preparing for MBBS. He says that there is no option for him to study other subjects in this situation. Some of his friends suggested quitting. “You cannot do it, quit it now,” they told him. Some of them even started to mock him. But that would not discourage him.
Hurt by failure, he had to stand up in his own eyes and in the eyes of others. “This year I made it,” he said.
He has not yet decided what he will specialize at. He will decide that while studying MBBS. For now, he looks forward to studying harder in MBBS and becoming a doctor.
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