Bhumika and the others that are planning to come to the U.S: I know that the perception of life in America for much of Nepal is a horribly distorted vision- everyone thinks that life is super easy and that the streets are paved with gold. This certainly is the land of opportunity provided you come with realistic expectations. If you expect to maintain the same lifestyle that you were used to in Nepal then, you are setting yourself up for a lot of heartache and misery. This country does not believe in giving you a bed of roses--you are expected to be independent and earn your own living..it's not extraordinary to expect a 21 year old to work and go to school--it may be hard striking a balance between school, work and the importance of having a social circle that you can rely on to help you maintain the balance but it can be done...it may be hard meeting people and getting to know them, but, the huge benefit in that is that it forces you to move away from the security blanket of making friends with people who look like you and sound like you--broaden the circle of people you socialise with--there are a lot of lessons to be learnt and to teach those from a culture that is very different from that in Nepal in which most of us were raised. Don't loose heart easily--like others said, nobody promised you a life of dreams...you need to believe that your dreams will come true, if you are willing to stick it out through the pain and misery of the early years...I wish all you young students already here or headed here, nothing but the best...have faith--it goes a long way :-)