The Invisible Backpack We Carry

The UGA Graduate School magazine features one of our newest colleagues in the Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services and 2019 TEDxUGA Student Idea Showcase presenter Kestrina Shrestha, who took the TED stage with a black backpack that she had carried into the Annapurna Himalayas during an ambitious climb in December of 2017:

Taking the stage at UGA’s Fine Arts Theater, Shrestha plunked down a large backpack. She lugged the pack for 10 days while hiking in the Annapurna region of north central Nepal.

Inside the pack, weighing about 22 pounds, was everything she would require—to wear, eat and drink—for the entire journey.

In the first portion of her talk to a packed audience, Shrestha described the experience of trekking to the Nepalese base camp of Annapurna.

The altitude was 13,550 feet.

Then, she asked the audience, “What is in your backpack?”

Shrestha used the analogy of essentials in an invisible backpack, to prompt the audience to consider what would make their own graduate school journey successful.

Fantastic. Read the whole thing and welcome to the Franklin College family, Ms. Shrestha.