As Erie’s halls buzz with movement and excitement, we are often lost in the conversations with our friends, what’s happening in our own little worlds. We hardly look up and meet new people or even realize they are there. But how in the world could you miss Suprabha Khatri?

    Khatri is a Junior at Erie High School, quiet and sweet, just recently joining the EHS community in August when she transferred from Twin Peaks Charter School. She has grown fond of Erie’s choir program and the friends she has made since the beginning of the year.

    However, what you wouldn’t know about Khatri is that she was born in Nepal where she spent the first seven years of her life. Her parents were both born in Nepal as well. Her father came to study in America and favored certain aspects of the country. After most of Khatri’s family in Nepal moved to the United Kingdom, her parents moved to New York, where they stayed for six months until they moved to Longmont, Colorado, before being drawn to the small town of Erie, Colorado.

    Khatri remembers a lot about Nepal, as she and her family visit annually. She described how it’s different from the United States, explaining that “Because here, like in just your neighborhood, you don’t know the people around you but in Nepal you know everyone. It’s really nice because like in the morning you can go up to your roof and you’ll be talking to people across houses.”

With as interesting a name as Suprabha, you have to know where it comes from! Khatri explains that in Nepal the Hindu priests tell parents the letter of which their child’s name must start with. Khatri elaborates upon the origins of her name, “My uncle came up with it and everyone loved it.”

    But Khatri’s unique name is not the only thing she has brought from Nepal to the United States. She is also a part of a group of girls in Boulder who come together to do Nepal dances. They practice and perform three to four times a year, dressed in traditional attire called dhoti cholo. Khatri has a passion for singing and dancing which she has pursued through her dance group as well as being involved in choir since sixth grade.

    Suprabha Khatri may be a quiet girl, but she has a huge heart and a beautiful story of being involved in Nepal culture in and out of the country. The passions she harbors and the dreams she holds will lead her to even more opportunities to do what she loves.