The outstanding bright personality and smile of Nodirjon Egamberdiev is well-known across campus at various eateries and student activities. The 26-year-old student holds Bloomsburg University close to his heart, especially after his battle with cancer in 2020.
Many students and faculty know of his kind face and warm personality as he serves an abundance of the Huskies throughout the week. His outstanding persona stands out making him a celebrity across campus, and sometimes off campus.
“I am blessed to be around great people here”, said Egamberdiev who is very humble about his great reputation across campus.
Background
Egamberdiev was born in Uzbekistan, but moved to the United States at age 7. Throughout his life, he was able to visit his homeland but unfortunately has not been able to return since he earned his citizenship. US citizens wishing to enter Uzbekistan need to apply for an Uzbekistan eVisa before entry.
Currently, he lives right in town but loves to venture to scenic local areas and visit his home in Northeast Philadelphia.
“It is funny [that] I am not a traditional student”, said Egamberdiev. He has been around the university since around 2016, and is still a student learning Arabic in the languages & cultures department. He is currently a senior with two semesters left to go, but is taking the year off to work more and take life one step at a time.
“I want to be able to have time to enjoy myself. After having cancer, I want to enjoy life”, he said. His main focus is not rushing into things and enjoying each step of life, especially talking to others to brighten their day.
Battling cancer
In 2020, the friendly student fought his battle against cancer when he was diagnosed with Embryonal Carcinoma. Despite this being a testicular cancer, the tumor was around 14 centimeters big and reached his colon. Luckily, he overcame this obstacle of his life.
He reminisced much of his companions supported him in 2020 during his battle, despite the pandemic restrictions in the hospital. A tremendous amount of his support came from the student organization he was so involved in, Busted. Prior to his ailment, he was also a senator for the Community Government Association who showed support.
The biggest impact from his experience with cancer is that he is beyond grateful to have such tremendous support from his fellow companions and the BU community, even after his battle. This has motivated him to keep the community close to his heart, and to serve it as it has served him.
Work life
Around thirty five hours of his week is spent working. In Soltz Hall, “Nodir” works at Qdoba and Chick-fil-a. He also works as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut in Bloomsburg and in to-go services at Red Robin in Shamokin Dam.
“I could be delivering for Pizza Hut, then see someone I served from Qdoba, and they say hi to me”, said Egamberdiev. He recalled many instances of this often occurrence noting that many customers adore his positive energy. Many freshman even recognize him from student involvement various videos.
During the summer, he worked at Tufts University as a Resident Counselor for their pre-college programs. He happily recalled, “It took only a week for almost all the students in the pre-college programs to know who I am because of my enthusiasm and how loud I can be.”
Overall, Nodirjon Egamberdiev hopes to return to his education next year to finish out his time at the Bloomsburg campus, while continuing to be as involved each day.
