There was a bright flash of Nepalese culture on show when USC Nursing Science students Diwas Bhandari and Namrata Baskota graduated recently.

Relatives of the duo travelled almost 10,000km from Nepal for the ceremony on Thursday 12 April, with the women wearing stunning traditional saris to mark the occasion.

Nepal is currently the largest country of origin for international students at USC, making up about 30 percent of the University’s international cohort.

Drawcards for Nepalese students are USC’s Bachelor of Nursing Science and the University’s Master degrees in Health Practice, Professional Accounting, and Information and Communications Technology.

Diwas moved from Damak, in eastern Nepal, to live at Norman Park in Brisbane, while Namrata is from Kathmandu and now lives with her husband at Clayfield.

The graduates had met in 2013 while doing a TAFE course in Brisbane, then carpooled to the Sunshine Coast throughout their university studies over the past three years.

Diwas, who is now a registered nurse at the Regis Chelmer aged care facility, said he greatly appreciated the support he received from USC’s Student Services and Engagement staff at Student Central.

“When I came to USC, I wasn’t that good with assignments,” he said. “But Student Central helped me a lot with the reference guide and everything else I needed to complete them.

It made my life so much easier.”

Namrata, who is now a registered nurse at the Chermside Day Hospital and Regis The Gap aged care facility, said studying at USC had many highlights, especially the enthusiastic academics and the relaxed lifestyle.

“When students had an hour break between classes, we sometimes went to the beach to have lunch at Mooloolaba,” she said. “It was really refreshing to be able to do that. It is very unique.”

There were 2,326 international students studying at USC last year, with about 700 of these students from Nepal.

- Tom Snowdon