Autobiography
(Deo Kumar Poudyel)
I was born at Khagochen,
under Dagana Dzongkhag on September 24, 1988. My father Nar Bdr. Poudyel and
mother Tulashi Devi Poudyel had an arranged marriage as per the Hindu tradition
during their teen age. My family is of those days when ones required a large
number of members to form a good workforce. I am the eighth member in the
family, yet not the smallest.
The landscape of
my village is best to grow any kind of agricultural products. The climatic
conditions range from hot and wet in summer and moderately cold and dry in winter.
My father died in
1992, when my younger brother and sister were just 2 years old and 2 months old
respectively. I was 3 years and 6 months then, and it is odd that I can
remember hardly anything about him except pulling my ears without reason,
getting me biscuits while returning from his business sites and most clearly
his death-bed. After my father’s death we
were raised by mother and luckily we have our beloved brother who has not only
been my true brother but also my second parent. I grew up with my family
members raising cattle to working in the field under the scorching sun. I
remember playing with my younger brother and elder sister accompanied by other
cousins in the village.
My parents felt
the early education for me was immensely important contrary to the fact that
they had to encounter unavoidable hardships in life without education.
Therefore, they decided to enroll me into the school. Their decision had
finally manifested when I got the admission in Daga Primary School in 1995. I was 6-years old then. I was
taken to a strange place, a day long walk from my home and left to finish my
pre-primary schooling in my relative’s house. I was lucky that I had with me my
sister who is 2 years older to me. It was really an unaccepted experience of my
life. May be I was too young to be away from my mother. The house where I
stayed was headed by a class eight student who in fact is the eldest son of my
uncle. It was a temporary hut filled with six school goers of different age. I
use to get punished even for a mere reason. I missed my home a lot.
In 1996, my eldest
brother felt the importance of my mother’s presence with me. My mother left home
and started to run a small restaurant in the nearby town of my school. Thereafter
I had had no bitter experience of any kind. To start with a restaurant was
great success for me and for the family as a whole. Indeed, my brother and of
course my mother were the master designer of my life. I vividly remember and my
mother, too, used to narrate some incidences that whenever I refused to go to school,
she used to advice me with future consequences of schooling.
In the School, my
classroom walls were filled with colorful pictures captioned below with their
names, while on the other face of the wall there would be giant picture of
human with parts labeled both in English and in Dzongkha. Those things would
often attract my concentration and that was how it helped me learn names of
animals, vegetables etc. I always used to be in the list of top five from the
class. I didn’t hold first, second or third position. I had taken part in
various school activities. I still remember the costumes designed for the “wangzhay” which we performed in the
celebration of national day, 2000. In 2001 I completed my primary schooling.
In 2002, I got
transfer to Daga Middle Secondary and got enrolled in Class VII; the
school shared the boundary with my Primary school. I worked harder; did
homework on time and attended the classes regularly. Teachers appreciated me
for my active class participation. I was introduced to many outdoor and indoor
games. I enjoyed my school days with my friends. I had three day-scholar
friends of different knowledge; two were very good at studies and one was
extraordinarily gifted with the talent in dancing.
With good results
in hand, I could make to class IX in the same school in 2004. In Class IX
surprisingly I was introduced to know that there are three branches of science;
chemistry, physics and biology. Learning approached seemed to be different
where I had to do assignment and solve question papers after examination and
summit for assessment. I appeared Bhutan
Certificate of Secondary Education (BCSE) examination in 2005.
In 2006, I was placed
to Damphu Higher Secondary School in class XI, due to unavailability of higher
secondary schools at Dagana. I chose science stream as I did quite well in
science subjects. I had once again a challenging task, to be away from home and
experience the boarding life. I was not happy to be there. I made this message
to reach in the ears of my parents. After two weeks of my stay in Damphu, I was
happy to hear that I got admission in Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School. It
was really a new experience for me to be in the capital city of Bhutan. I
stayed with my uncle and pursued my pre-university education. My life became
more challenging, responsible and bright. I became more ambitious and some sort
of encouragement grew in me. I aimed to become an engineer. I worked on it
where I had dropped biology but somehow my result turned out rude to my
expectation. My Bhutan Higher Secondary
Education Certificate (BHSCE) result in 2007 was not as I
expected.
However, I did
qualify for Sherubtse College, Kanglung,
under Royal University of Bhutan (RUB).
I was ranked 2nd in B.Sc. Physical Sciences and I took
B.Sc in Mathematics and Physics. I had tough time there where I had to do
assignments and presentations for each module in a semester. Besides there
would be class tests and the schedule was pack. I always thought of becoming
engineer and I lost my interest in education. However, I managed to pass the
examinations but unfortunately, I failed to clear some papers in forth semester
and had to repeat it. Thereafter, I had changed my mind had started working
harder and I completed my bachelor degree in the summer of 2012. It was not an
end of my career.
After much
breathtaking work, I passed Bhutan
Civil Service Examination (BCSE) the same year I was graduated
from Sherubtse College. Fortunately, I had been able to make to Samtse College of Education in
2013 to pursue Post Graduate Diploma in
Education (PgDE) which is a nine-months training program. I chose
mathematics as my
elective subject.
I always will have
a greater sense of duty to be a responsible son of my mother, helpful brother
of my siblings, trusted friend to my friends and it is of course a success of
my life to get a chance to serve my country in a most fruitful manner. Teachers
produce all other professions.
Being a
Mathematics trainee, I would always have an immense interest to know the
performance of Bhutanese students in the field of mathematics and work harder
to bring changes in the study of mathematics education in Bhutan.
