Immerse Yourself

I have done 3 travel abroad programs, 2 with USAC and 1 with Rotary Youth Exchange, so am privileged in my ability to do a compare and contrast analysis. In the semester previous, I studied for a semester in Thailand with USAC.

Academics:
Thailand’s USAC program said it was USAC rules to be able to miss 3 classes per class, while in India you were only allowed to miss 1 class per class. Professors at Christ University hold attendance to high importance and are apathetic for reasons for absences. Being Americans, being forced to go to class is a strange and hard to follow, especially when you'd rather travel. Do not tell your professors you are missing your one allowed absence to travel, they will not accept it. Classes were 3 hour-long lectures, where the professor would just talk at you while everyone did travel research on their laptops. There were only 2 assignments for each class, which were the midterm and final were you wrote a 14 page essay roughly for each one. Since American schools end later in the year and Indian colleges end sooner, you will be studying only with the other exchange students therefor separating you from the local Indian students at Christ. Nevertheless, the grading system is loose and you will receive nothing lower than a B. Several Indian students go far as to say plagiarism is a norm that will be left undetected.

Accommodations:
As for living the situation, there are two options: living on campus in Jonas Hall (cheaper and only for women) and the off campus Christ Apartments (Coed). I enjoyed living in Jonas Hall despite it having stricter rules. The Indian Christ students have harsher rules they have to live with, such as only being able to go out 2 times a year while staying there and no access to the washer machines in the building. You will be treated differently with more privileges than your Indian flat mates and are allowed to stay out, but won’t be able to be let back in past 9am. The other benefit of living in the on campus dorms is you will be able to wake up 10 minutes before class, instead of a 40 minute to hour walk from the off campus apartments. Moreover, you will have a single room, much needed in a country like India were personal space isn’t as highly regarded. It will be nice to get away at the end of the day. The off campus apartments are nice, but you will have to share a room with another USAC student and it will be more expensive. Moreover, it is my observation that the USAC students in the apartments stick to each other, disallowing them from making local Indian friends.

My Experience:
My time in India will be the most impressionable travel experience I have ever had. India is adjacent to several countries on my travel list such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet, and Afghanistan. Yet, you will find India is so large you will not be able to even explore India enough with the 4 months you are given. I extended my time there because of this issue. From the sailing the Kerala backwaters to paragliding over the snowy peaks of Kashmir, India is stunning. If you are feeling nervous in result of all the negative propaganda that the media says about India, do not be intimidated. I have always felt safe as a woman, often times taking sleeper busses alone and meeting up with friends later.

Most Important Advice:
Cliché as it may be, please come with the intention to properly integrate yourself. Become self-aware and recognize the internal ignorances you might have about Indian men, culture, and practices look to shatter them. Since you will be separated from the other Indian students do your best to get involved on campus. I was lucky enough to find the Christ women’s soccer team my first week of being there and was able to travel for free for tournaments and make 16 lifelong friends. Having these girls guided me is what made my time here so awesome. They helped me find the best eateries, hospitals, bars, and along with provided friendships that truly made me feel like India was my second home. Through a friend on the soccer team I got to meet my now boyfriend, who is a travel blogger and who I was able to travel India with and feel safe. I learned more about India and the culture through my friends here than I did in my culturally based classes. Ask your friends to take you on visits to Hindu temples. Be cautious in asking about the caste system and where they find themselves in it. Since you can only be born into Hinduism, as an American you will be able to enter temples since you are not apart of the caste system and glorification of white skin post colonialism is still evident. If you are black you will find India to be a racist country and please be wary, but don't please don't be discouraged. It is common to receive unpleasant stares and racist commentary. All in all, India has been an extraordinary chapter of my life that will stay with me forever. I can only owe it to the friends I made here and my boyfriend for why my time here was so successful. If I hadn’t had reached out so soon to the local community, my time here would not have been as enriching. So by all means, get out there. Go to an Indian wedding. Go scuba diving in the Indian Ocean. Go hiking in the Himalayas. Visit temples of all different religions. Submerge yourself in the Ganges River. Do as much as you can because before you know it your visa is up!