DEPARTED FROM
Lahore, Pakistan
ARRIVED IN
West Lafayette, Indiana
YEAR
1997
AGE
17
I came the US, which is supposed to be this whole big deal. My uncle was like “oooh, Indiana’s such a great place,” and you land in January, and theres nothing - just fields everywhere! And there’s nothing on there, no greenery, no nothing, just fields! Everywhere. That’s where I learned to drive, there’s never any traffic. And then, I started college, in the very first week, on the very first day of classes, we had snow. There was enough snow that my feet were covered. That Friday it got cold enough that the Weather Advisory said not to step out, and my uncle still came and got me. I thought the people here were nice, everybody at school was really friendly, and open.
At first we were scared. At engineering school orientation they stood 10 people up, they literally took 4 people to one side and said “ by next semester, 4 of you won’t be in engineering. If you’re expecting this to be easy, you’re kidding yourself. Your first year is going to be hell.” I was only 17; when I moved into my dorm room, everyone else was 19. But you know, people were still super friendly. I’d come from England, and England wasn’t at all like that.
* The contributor of this story has asked that their name be withheld.
