Ashima Sitaula

Ashima Sitaula may be far from her native Lalitpur, Nepal, but she has quickly found herself a new home at Indiana State University.

“Since this is my first semester, I am still learning and finding ways to be involved in different organizations on the campus and try to attend as many campus activities as possible,” said Sitaula, who began her education in State’s master’s program for education technology in the spring semester of 2019. “This is my first international visit, except India, but I am so glad to see how great everyone is about greeting international students.”

So far, Sitaula joined the International Student Leadership Council and Graduate Students Association. She also volunteers and participates in events organized around campus by different departments, like Multicultural Services and Programs, Center for Global Engagement, Center for Community Engagement and Bayh College of Education. She’s also a columnist for The Statesman and a student assistant with the hopes of getting a graduate assistantship in the future.

“Even though I did bachelor’s degree in information technology, I started working in a school teaching fifth and sixth grade and realized I didn’t want to just do computer programing but also teach,” Sitaula said. “When I was doing my undergraduate work at home, one (Indiana State) professor visited Nepal and I learned how awesome the educational technology program here. The major reason I was drawn to Indiana State was that 100 percent of academic programs here require experiential learning.”

The real experience at Indiana State has lived up to Sitaula’s expectations with a course structure in the educational technology program that has offered her exactly what she wanted to study and friendly faces at every new turn she makes.

“In just a few months here, I have had so much experience and guidance,” she said. “The educational technology students at ISU need to participate in a field work in an appropriate school or agency conducted under faculty supervision in my final year which is designed to provide students with experiences requiring an increasing degree of self-direction and responsibility. Upon graduation, I will be prepared for a career as a practitioner of instructional technology.”