Oral history interview with Sumitra Chhetri

Collection

Identifier: SR12252

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Sumitra Chhetri was conducted by Sankar Raman on March 19, 2017. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Chhetri discusses her early life in a camp for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. She describes the educational system in the camp, as well as her social life and daily activities. She talks about the process of resettling in the United States in 2008; describes her experience attending high school in Portland, Oregon; and discusses learning English as a second language. She talks about studying political science at Portland State University and her future plans, including her intention to attend law school and run for office. Sankar Raman shares advice for seeking out career mentors. Chhetri closes the interview by discussing the challenges she has faced as a first-generation immigrant.

Dates

Creation: 2017 March 19

Creator

Chhetri, Sumitra, 1993- (Interviewee, Person)
Raman, Sankar (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Sumitra Chhetri was born in a camp for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal in 1993. In 2008, her family was approved for resettlement in the United States, and they immigrated to Portland, Oregon. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Portland State University in 2016. In 2019, Chhetri was elected to the Centennial school board.

Extent

38.5 Megabytes (1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 24 min., 5 sec.))) : MPEG-4

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Sumitra Chhetri conducted by Sankar Raman on March 19, 2017, for The Immigrant Story. Chhetri grew up in a camp for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and immigrated to Portland, Oregon, in 2008.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-017).

Publication note

An article about Sumitra Chhetri, "The American Dream Is Never Easy" by Sankar Raman, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/refugee/