By 8pm on Sunday, just two days from now, I will be boarding a flight to Mumabi, India. I will be studying in Pune until mid December. But even as I type all of this out, it still hasn't hit me yet. To be honest, I don't think it will until I'm on the plane in mid air.
So why India? It's true, I was born and raised in India for about 8 years of my life so as a few friends and strangers have asked... why would I want to spend an entire semester going back to the place I'm from? Here's why:
1.) I'm studying international relations and economics. I am more specifically interested in looking at economic inequality. India is not only rising as one of the top economies in the world, but also has a large amount of disparity. I myself grew up in a small area so I remember seeing all of this on a daily basis. However, now that I have taken so many classes regarding these topics, I feel I can gain a more profound understanding of what the real issues are in India- rather than just reading about them in a textbook. I will have the ability to explore and inquire, which is absolutely thrilling to me.
2.) The Alliance for Global Education seems to be fantastic. It combines everything so well & is development focused. The classes sound awesome & I will also have an internship that I will not find out about for a few more weeks. I have heard that a lot of students who have done this program in the past usually end up interning for an NGO of some kind. But there is really no way of knowing until I am there. And I'll be in a homestay- which is a component that I found to be extremely attractive. For these reasons (the classes/the internship/everything I have heard about this program in general), I thought the Pune program would be the perfect choice.
3.) I moved to the middle of suburbia, United States at a young age, where I thought that in order to fit in, I had to push away my culture. I came here when I was just beginning to understand things and then had to go through a process of adjusting to an entirely new world and people- so somewhere amid all of that, the little understanding and comprehension I had was lost. I haven't been back in years and I'm ready to return to my roots, it's about time. Over these next few months, it's going to be just me and mother India- I've got a lot of catching up to do so I hope she still remembers me :)
4.) Lastly, I'm incredibly interested in comparing/contrasting economic policies between India and South America. If all goes well, I will be in South America for spring semester and currently I am in the process of petitioning AU abroad for a program that I am IN LOVE with. Some of you may know how obsessed I am with the program (it's through SIT.. look it up! because I'm positive others would love it as well). Ideally, going from studying a semester in India straight into studying a semester in South America would be AMAZING. But nothing is guaranteed so I've really got my fingers crossed on this one. Plus I would finally, finally become better with my Spanish and immerse myself into a culture I have been enamored with for years and years.
So with that, I'll end my first post! I'll mention that I am super nervous for what lies ahead and am not prepared whatsoever to not see family/friends for the next 4 months... Still not really sure what I'll do without the hughes front desk staff or the DAV staff (meep) but I'm so very excited at the same time. I look forward to updating this next from India... !!
So with that, I'll end my first post! I'll mention that I am super nervous for what lies ahead and am not prepared whatsoever to not see family/friends for the next 4 months... Still not really sure what I'll do without the hughes front desk staff or the DAV staff (meep) but I'm so very excited at the same time. I look forward to updating this next from India... !!
