From living in one of the world's most metropolitan cities, I packed my bags to come to Winter Park and wasn't really aware of what I was getting into. I soon realized that college is an experience that's different and difficult for most of us. Some of us don't even feel the transition from high school to college. But when you have to move from one continent to another, the difficulty is of another level. College happens to be our first attempt on learning the art of how to "perfect" the adult life. From getting along with your roommate from another corner of the world to staying on top of your game in class everyday, from missing curry because you're Indian to the nine and half hours of time difference that really hits you real hard, a hell of a lot of things changed for me.
With the diversity I noticed on campus, I would wish I could meet more people who belong to the same nationality as me. I'd often walk down to the Indian restaurant on Park Avenue to speak in Hindi to the guy in the restaurant for a few seconds, helping me get through the day in its own precious way. Noticing the Indian flag in the Marketplace everyday while the lunch lady made my food happened to bring the biggest smile to my face — just one of the things that would make me appreciate life in the best possible way.
I did tend to miss home a lot during my semester at Rollins, an experience all international students go through. Something that would make it even harder was going to school 7000 miles from home, making homesickness worse. Only getting to visit my family twice a year would break my heart a little whenever I thought about it. The homesickness would reach another level when my brother got off from school every other day because India is a land of innumerable festivals where going to class for five weeks straight becomes an achievement.
The worst type of responsibility that comes with growing up is having to take care of yourself when you're sick and not having your mum around to take care of you instead. This is the worst, as she's miles away panicking, gets worried sick and bombards your phone with countless missed calls. Growing up hit me hard, especially when I couldn't cheat during sickness. I wouldn't allow myself to take any sick days, as parents never do, and showed up to class and did my laundry despite the sickness. Plus, a 15 to 18 hour flight wouldn't have helped anyway.
I often have people question my nationality and doubt if i'm actually Indian because of my fair complexion, red cheeks and light brown hair and the misconception that, if you're Indian, you better be brown. I've also had several people at 7-Eleven and Uber drivers ask me how I speak English so fluently ("Are you not from India?"). One of my favorite misconceptions to date is the name of the language I speak ("Is it Indian or Hindu?"). On a friend's birthday, we all decided to sing "Happy Birthday" to her in as many languages as we could. When it was my turn to sing, people were so confused by the language I spoke back home. Most of them found it hard to understand that Indian is my nationality and Hindu happens to be my religion. When it comes to language, I speak Hindi.
