LEAVING UO WITH WHAT HE BROUGHT: HAPPINESS.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

Are you happy?

Pema Chhophyel certainly is - and not only because he'll graduate Saturday with a degree in business, one of more than 4,300 students eligible to receive their diplomas at the University of Oregon's 130th commencement.

Nor is Chhophyel happy merely because he's a native of Bhutan - though that does help explain his upbeat outlook. The tiny Buddhist nation is, after all, known for its joyful citizenry and its concept of Gross National Happiness - assessing both spiritual and material development in measuring a country's quality of life.

No, the 29-year-old Chhophyel is a happy man because the dream he barely dared to dream - that he might one day leave his remote village and come to the United States for an education - keeps getting bigger, and keeps coming true.

"A dream is like an empty vessel - unless you go for it," he said earlier this week as he prepared for his final exams. "I am more prepared to face the world by getting an education, and seeing hope for the future, and that makes me happy."

Six years ago, Chhophyel was an assistant travel guide when he chanced to meet and thoroughly charm 16 women from Oregon who had traveled to Bhutan - a kingdom of 2 million tucked in a mountainous region between India and China - on a 17-day vacation. Before the trip ended, several of the "Bhu Bunch" women hatched the idea of raising enough money to bring Chhophyel to Eugene and cover the costs of an initial year of tuition at Lane Community College.

But student visas were a hard thing to come by after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After months of delay and disappointment, Chhophyel finally obtained a visa in July 2003 - and enrolled at LCC the following fall.

He promptly excelled - in the classroom, on the job and in his leadership roles with various student groups - and his fan base grew accordingly. Over time, the $14,000 initially collected by "Bhu Bunch" advocates quadrupled to nearly $60,000 - a figure that allowed Chhophyel to complete two years at LCC, then enroll in the Lillis School of Business at the UO.

Why were so many moved to open their hearts, and their wallets, to this young man from the other side of the world? The answer, say those who know him, lies in the spark in Chhophyel's eyes - a spark that embraces hard work, humility and, yes, happiness.

"Practically every visitor to Bhutan comes home thinking that the people of this tiny part of the Himalayas have got it right," said Blyth Carpenter of Eugene, one of the "Bhu Bunch" gang. "Pema reminds us that we can grow in multiple dimensions and pursue a vigorous path without sacrificing our humanity."

Carpenter, a retired high school teacher of Asian history, said Chhophyel's leadership skills make her excited for his future. "He's going to do something amazing - I don't know what it's going to be, but I know he's going to touch a lot of people in very significant ways," she said. "He's the kind of pebble that, thrown into the water, really does create a ripple."

There's little doubt Chhophyel has made the most of his four years in Eugene. At LCC, he pursued his studies with vigor, ultimately joining Phi Theta Kappa, LCC's academic Honor Society.

He also provided leadership for a United Nations Internet Project that promoted technology awareness; served as an International Students Community Program peer coordinator; gave public presentations to service groups, schools and youth camps; and spent two years working as a front-office receptionist for LCC President Mary Spilde.

"He was the first person people saw when they came to our corner of the floor," said Spilde, among Chhophyel's biggest fans. "He was always smiling, generous, helpful. He's a wonderful young man sure to do great things."

During his second year at LCC, Chhophyel attended a presentation offered by the UO's International Cultural Services Program, which provides tuition scholarships to international students who agree to serve as "cultural ambassadors." Magid Shirzadegan, the program's coordinator, remembers meeting Chhophyel at the presentation.

"From the moment he came in and interviewed, people totally fell in love with him and thought he was amazing," Shirzadegan said. "He is amazing."

His dream of continuing his studies at the UO suddenly made possible, Chhophyel still faced other financial obstacles. So he began working campus housing jobs - janitor, painter, maintenance worker - even before starting classes.

A cheerleader of Bhutan culture, Chhophyel soon floated the idea of organizing a "Bhutan Day" cultural celebration on campus. `I remember telling him, `Pema, you are our only student from Bhutan, how can you put on a daylong program on Bhutan?' ' Shirzadegan said. "Let's do an afternoon on Bhutan." That's what Chhophyel did, and it was a huge success, Shirzadegan said.

Chhophyel also found an academic outlet for celebrating Bhutanese culture: He linked up as a consultant to the university's Linguistics Department and helped two professors create a writing system for the rare dialect of Kurtoep, a spoken-only language used in Chhophyel's native village.

During Christmas break in 2005, Chhophyel returned to his village and neighboring areas, where he collected 17 videotapes and seven audiotapes of people speaking Kurtoep. The interviewees included his parents; it was Chhophyel's last meeting with his father, who died the next December.

By Chhophyel's estimation, fewer than 8,000 people still speak the dialect, which he hopes will now be preserved in writing. "We basically started from scratch - no dictionary, no writing - and now we have almost 5,000 words," he said.

This past year, Chhophyel has been active in the UO student chapter of the American Marketing Association, which recently won national recognition for its breadth of activities. Among other events, he helped organize visits to such workplaces as the Nike campus in Beaverton and advertising agencies in Portland.

In his two years at the UO, Chhophyel missed only a handful of football and men's basketball games, and declares, "I'm a Duck forever." His most recent campus job, handling phones and talking to donors at the Duck Athletic Fund offices, has only intensified his enthusiasm for UO teams.

Chhophyel is eager to celebrate commencement Saturday with the business classmates who have become like a second family to him. One of the biggest skills he said he's learned at the UO is how to embrace teamwork as a business model.

"We are often here from 8 in the morning to 10 at night, working as a group," he said. "School is good, but you really, really have to work hard - there have been a lot of sleepless nights. It's a great achievement, so we deserve to celebrate."

Chhophyel said he turned to his surrogate "Bhu Bunch" families for support when the pace of school, work and extracurricular activities threatened to overwhelm him. But the idea of slowing down was hard to embrace when so many opportunities were waiting.

"My friends will say, `You don't get stressed.' But it doesn't help to be stressed - others see it, and they feel sad," he said. "I say, `Be calm - it helps you.' '

Chhophyel expects to secure a one-year work visa that will allow him to land a marketing job in the United States. Then, his dream will continue to expand in unknown ways: He may decide to pursue an MBA, or travel and work in Japan, or, most likely, return to Bhutan.

His home country is in the midst of historic times: A monarchy since 1907, Bhutan saw its beloved king abdicate last December to his eldest son - a young man Chhophyel knows from school in their teen years.

"He didn't want people to treat him like a prince," Chhophyel said. "He was an ordinary student in the classroom, very hard-working and compassionate."

Bhutan's first-ever parliamentary elections are set for next year, and Chhophyel thinks he might like to be there for the historic occasion.

Whatever the future brings, Chhophyel said he is forever indebted to his benefactors in Eugene - not just for their financial support, he says, but also for their emotional support and display of loving values.

The best repayment, he said, is to live a life of reaching out.

"I want to work hard so I'm able to do something like that for others," he said. "When you do something to try to make someone else happy, that makes you happy. It's a path that never ends."

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON COMMENCEMENT

Parking: Very limited, so early arrival advised. Free parking available in lots at East 15th Avenue and Columbia Street and East 14th Avenue and Kincaid Street, plus at specially marked parking meters on edge of campus.

Keynote speaker: Michael Moffitt, associate director of the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center at the UO School of Law, will give a speech titled "In Praise of Surprises: Lessons from Conflict Resolution."

Separate commencement ceremonies: Each UO school or college, and some departments, hold ceremonies that began Thursday and will continue through Saturday. For the times

and locations of these events, visit www.uoregon.edu/~stl /programs/commencement/Spring07Locations.pdf.

For more information: Call 346-3216.

FACTS AND FIGURES: UO'S CLASS OF 2007

Number of graduates: 4,359 eligible students; 4,597 degrees to be conferred

Type of degrees: 3,358 bachelor's degrees; 719 master's degrees; 145 doctorates; 170 law degrees; 205 certificates

Multiple majors: 373 double majors; 11 triple majors

Gender balance: 2,310 women; 2,049 men

Top 10 majors: Business administration; journalism; psychology; political science; art; educational studies; sociology; economics; English; accounting