LLAMA LEGACY: NEPAL X NEUMONT
THREE GENERATIONS OF NEUBIES. ONE HERITAGE.
Kaavya Bhattarai (Left), Nirvik Sharma (Middle), Savya Bhattarai (Right).
Neumont College of Computer Science is a small, selective, niche school located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each year over a thousand applications fly in from all over the nation. Classroom sizes are limited, allowing for a small percentage of applicants to get a seat on campus. Of those applicants, Nirvik Sharma, Savya and Kaavya Bhattarai are three generations of Nepalese who ventured to Neumont to embark on their computer science journey. Savya and Kaavya were both born in Kathmandu and moved to America as children. Nirvik attended school in Nepal, but spent the majority of his adolescent years here in Utah. So, what brought them to Neumont? Passion. Passion for technology brought Nirvik, a third year student who will be graduating this September, Savya, a second year student and Kaavya, a first year student, to Neumont.
WHERE DOES YOUR PASSION WITH TECHNOLOGY STEM FROM?
Nirvik recalls watching his older brothers play video games; he was more interested in how the games worked than in learning how to actually play the games. Nirvik began learning how to code in 7th grade and even enrolled in Khan Academy, an online education tool that offers courses in all subjects, to create his very own game!
The Bhattarai brothers first became interested in tech when their Bubā (father) brought home a computer. The two brothers got to play on the computer daily, learning everything they could. Kaavya recalls right-clicking and experimenting with the ‘inspect element’ feature where he edited every line of code to see what would happen.
When Savya and Kaavya started high school, they both immediately enrolled in computer science classes. Savya was able to enroll in the Hardness Program, where students take coding classes outside of their traditional school to immerse themselves in CS. Kaavya took networking, JavaScript, and C++ classes at his high school.
It’s easy to see why these boys’ choose to attend Neumont. Their passion for technology began at an early age and grew with them into young adulthood. Neumont students are known for their tenuous work ethic because we empower them with the tools to learn CS. Check out our clubs page to get an idea of what the student life culture is like on campus.
WHAT’S YOUR CODING SECRET?
Have you ever changed your grade on a test before showing your parents? Remember the old school way of changing an F to an A with a red pen? Nirvik, on the other hand, took a high-tech approach and once used his HTML coding skills to change one of his school grades from a B to an A. Don’t worry, he could only change the image of the grade; his actual grade remained unchanged in the system. After all, he’s a coder not a hacker.*
Savya shared an experience with portal ‘hacking’, where he logged into his high school’s system and changed the forwarding email to his personal email so that his Bubā would not receive emails from the school (just in case he was ever in trouble) which Savya assured us was his only intention.
WHY NEUMONT?
Before you hear their why, listen to their original college plans:
Kaavya had intended to attend his local university, which was the cheapest college nearest him. Savya and Nirvik had no plans of attending college, so they both took a gap year after high school. A year later, their decision reversed when they received a yellow envelope in the mail from Neumont that offered a:
Three year bachelor’s degree program
Better potential of landing a high paying tech job
Curriculum that would allow them to start coding on day one
Nirvik had insider information about Neumont because his brother is actually an alum! Following his brother's college decision is something Kaavya knows all about. During Savya’s orientation, his brother Kaavya accompanied him, where he learned all about Neumont’s culture and curriculum. By the end of the day, Kaavya had leaned over to his older brother and said, “I’m coming to this college next year, too.”
Got what it takes? Begin your application process here:
*Neumont in no way condones or promotes academic cheating.