After moving to Queens from Nepal three-and-half-years ago, Abhishek Roka, 22, has learned English, begun his undergraduate education, and been awarded a top honor by Queensborough Community College (QCC) for promoting racial harmony.
Roka was chosen by the Faculty Awards Committee to receive the Martin Luther King Jr. award based upon his contributions to the school, his academic success, and in consideration with the fact that Roka faced substantial obstacles as a new immigrant.
When he first arrived in the United States, Roka said his main goal was to make as much money as possible.
“If I make one dollar [in the United States], that would be a lot in Nepal,” he said.
Roka worked in several fast-food joints and landed a job as a waiter in a restaurant in Long Island, despite his halting English.
“I would make small conversations with the people and interacted with the customers. That's how people started to understand me better,” he said.
Two years ago, while working at the restaurant, Roka overheard students at Nassau Community College talking about their school, and his desire to earn a higher education was ignited.
“There's more to life than just working and making money,” Roka said, explaining how he went to the City University of New York (CUNY) office in Manhattan to find out his options for college.
Roka also had to convince his father, Binod, to allow him to go to college. Binod Roka emigrated from Nepal with Roka's mother, Menuka, ten years ago and was having trouble passing the bar exam in English, even though he had been a practicing lawyer in Nepal.
Because his English was still poor, Roka wanted to go to a college in a suburban area - so that he could focus on his schoolwork instead of the commute and distractions of Manhattan.
Once Roka chose QCC, things started falling in place, he said. While he was getting extra help in English as a Second Language (ESL), Roka tutored other Queensborough students in math - an area in which he excelled despite the language barrier.
Still, Roka said he struggled at first with the demanding coursework coupled with his ESL studies.
“In the beginning, it was a little difficult, especially the writing exam. The first semester I was really frustrated,” he said.
Nevertheless, Roka plowed through the homework, staying to study in between classes at QCC's Bayside campus instead of heading home to the one-bedroom apartment he shared with his family in Elmhurst. One afternoon, while he was studying on campus, Roka saw a flyer for a leadership weekend with the student government.
“I realized that there is a lot that needs to be done on the part of the students of Queensborough College,” Roka said, explaining how he first started as President pro tempore - the lowest-ranking non-elected position - and six months later was elected Executive Vice President of the student government.
In that role and along with the other elected leaders, Roka said his biggest accomplishment was creating a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for the student body of QCC - something that will remain in place at the college for years to come.
Still, Roka said that he struggled with his classes because of the time demands on his schedule from his activities with the student government.
“During my third semester, I didn't get a very satisfactory grade,” he said. “But my professor said that this is a learning phase.”
“The fact is that all of us want to be the best, but sometimes even your best efforts are not going to be good enough. You have to just get up and keep on trying, and trying.”
Roka's efforts, however, have often met with success.
A member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, he was named a Collegiate All American Scholar and a member of the Chemistry Honors Scholar Program. Under the mentorship of QCC Professor Dr. Paris Svoronos, Roka attended the New York Chemistry Students' Association Undergraduate Research Symposium at St. John's University this past spring.
Roka also won the Alan Baines Award, the Women's Club Award, the CRC Press Award for Chemistry, and the Alumni Association Award in 2005.
In September, Roka will begin classes CUNY's Staten Island College where he will study engineering, and he hopes to go to medical school and become a doctor, although he said he has not decided which field of medicine in which he wants to specialize.
“I want to focus on rural areas not only in Nepal, but in other parts of the world so I may help our needy brothers and sisters. I want to set up a not for profit organization, recruit other medical students and together accomplish a goal of helping the needy people of this world live as healthy a life as possible,” he said.
In Nepal, Roka and his family constantly feared rebel violence, and now still worry about relatives who remained in their homeland. For Roka's mother, the fear was especially great because she worried for her children's safety when she and her husband were forced to wait for their children to come safely to the United States.
“My mom and dad came over a long time before [myself and my sisters]. We didn't see our parents for six years,” Roka said. His sisters, Ashmati, 18, and Anjali, 17, had gotten their visas the year before Roka.
“Because of all I have seen in my life, I want to do something for those who cannot do for themselves,” Roka said.
Go Getter! Nepal emigrant shows great motivation and ambition.
By Christina Santucci
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