One Cup at a Time: Timalsina's Transfer Journey
As a barista at Course Ground Coffee, Sushi Timalsina learned about patient care while taking and making customer’s coffee orders. She learned some people want oat milk while others want almond. Some like it hot and others prefer their drinks on ice. Figuring out their preferences was part of the fun of being a barista.
“I enjoyed talking to people and making fun drinks that match their personality,” Timalsina said. “You are able to observe people and intermingle with their mentality. When you get it right, you put a smile on their face and that’s all that matters.”
Her path to Southeast Community College was a somewhat complicated drink to make. She came to Lincoln from Katmandu, Nepal, to visit her brother who is studying agriculture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She originally planned to attend the University of Idaho but ended up enrolling at UNL instead.
There was something missing in her drink so Timalsina transferred to SCC in May of 2024 because it was a more affordable option to take her gen ed classes. Last May she graduated from SCC with an Associate of Science in Health Sciences.
“My first semester at SCC was chaotic,” she said. “A university operates in a different way than a community college. I had a lot of adjustments I needed to make.”
She found the SCC’s smaller classes suited her better and she was also able to get involved on campus through Student Senate and eventually as a barista. Timalsina started at Course Ground Coffee in October 2024 and found her people in her regulars, many of whom are nurses or nursing students.
“They have encouraged me to be a good nurse,” Timalsina explained. “As a nurse, you are serving another person according to their preferences as well. I think this experience will help me a lot with my career.”
This fall, she changed up her drink order again as a nursing student at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Having earned a Phi Theta Kappa transfer scholarship, the decision to attend NWU was a no brainer. Timalsina hopes to earn her bachelor’s in nursing in two and a half years and become the first nurse in her family. From there, she will change her drink order up again. More than likely, the main ingredient for her career path will include travel.
“I’m just a bird that left the nest,” she said. “I can make a home wherever I want.”
Jennifer Snyder
Communications Specialist
Southeast Community College
402-323-3393
jsnyder@southeast.edu