Each week, the Record (using a script in R) randomly selects a student at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature, excluding current Record board members. This week, Priya Rajbhandary ’25 discussed her gap year in Nepal, the global studies concentration, and the International Students Association (ISA). This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Alexa Cohen (AC): We first met at a picnic. If you could bring anything to a picnic, what would you bring?
Priya Rajbhandary (PR): I would bring Alexa. [Laughs.] I would bring badminton and a charcuterie board or Bananagrams. Yeah, those. And a blanket.
AC: Winter Study is right around the corner. If you could teach your own Free University course, what would it be?
PR: It’s pretty funny. I’ve had COVID-19 two Winter Studies in a row. But during Winter Study, I’ve also been away from Williams. I went back home to [conduct] research my second Winter Study, researching sites I appreciated [during] my gap year. And then in my third Winter Study, I did “The Taste of Austria.” I ended up studying in Budapest, right next door, the next semester. But if I had a Free University, I would love to have a digital art — like collage — course. Yeah, cozy digital art.
AC: Take me back to the beginning. How was your gap year in Nepal?
PR: My gap year was — in hindsight — very restful. I was gearing up to go to college for so long, so it was nice having that break. I got famous on Twitter. I went trekking, and I had to go to Delhi for visa stuff. But it was a lot of appreciating that I was a tourist at home again. I started going to a lot of sites that I like that you sometimes overlook when you’re just living there. It was nice just traveling around Nepal.
AC: What were some of your favorite sites?
PR: I went to a bunch of museums, stupas, and temples. I would just read there or go have museum dates with my friends. During the winter, there’s a huge sunbathing culture. So winter is very different from here [because back home] it has meant warmth and sun. I would go outside and journal or just chill with my friends at a café.
AC: Have you done much trekking or hiking since then?
PR: You’ll see me at Mountain Day, climbing Stone Hill. Or the Williams Windows XP background day. I like having mini mountain days if I need a break from Williamstown — I’ll just go to Stone Hill or the Clark. I like that I’m hugged or cushioned by the hills.
AC: What was the transition back to Williams like after studying away?
PR: I think I’m more deliberate with where I spend my time and energy. Not to be that “Oh, study abroad changed me” kind of person. But I know what spaces I want to go to and what spaces I don’t. It put things into perspective a bit. And so now I just know I like TAing, and then I go to the Clark to read. I finish my problem set and then I go to Pub Night. So I just go to spaces when I want to, and I leave certain spaces when I want to, which is very restful.
AC: What have been some of your favorite classes thus far?
PR: That’s a tough one. You’re talking to someone who changed their major almost every semester. I really liked “Romanticism, Belatedly” with Professor [of English Paresh] Chandra. I took “Im/mobilities” with Professor [of Sociology Phi] Su. And the third one is “Computer Organization.” So yeah, very liberal arts. With the first two, I liked their framework of time — how people have moved across history and how time moves. I really like those frameworks, especially in a decolonial and postcolonial way. “Computer Organization” I liked because it concretized a lot of things that I was learning, and it was very satisfying to see that.
AC: We’re both global studies concentrators. What part of the globe have you been studying these days?
PR: I’ve always been very transnational because my concentration is in borders, exile, and diaspora studies. So, I look at how borders are formed and how people respond. I’ve taken “The Postwar Avant-Gardes,” which looked at South America. But I’ve also taken classes in Europe and the Middle East. A lot of the research I’ve done has also been centered around my home in Kathmandu, Nepal.
AC: Which have been your favorite semesters so far?
PR: I really liked my freshman fall semester. I was looking forward to coming to college after my gap year. I was really rested. I think my study abroad semester was really good. It would also maybe be sophomore fall because I was working at the WCMA [Williams College Museum of Art], and I was part of the international orientation. I really liked my group and it was a way of giving back to the international community.
AC: How has the international community shaped your time here?
PR: Oh my God, they’ve just been a safety net. I really like the ISA space. I’ve been on the board, and half my friend group was part of the board. I think I just really liked that community because we’re all from such different backgrounds. But something about the distance and the experience of being away from home brings us together.
