DEPARTED FROM
New Delhi, India
ARRIVED IN
San Francisco, California
YEAR
2016
AGE
18
TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCRIBED BY Yasmin T. Ismail (x 2)
What do you remember from your first few days at the United States?
I remember being a little scared, because I was 18. And I just moved here for college. Moving to college is scary on its own, and moving to college all the way in a new country is also a little scary. But I was very fascinated and excited as well.
Do you remember your first impressions of the country in general?
I remember, I was walking the streets of San Francisco with my mom. It was very new experience. And we remember coming across a completely naked guy just wearing shoes. And I guess that was my first experience of witnessing homelessness in California. But I remember my mother being extremely terrified, including me. And that was a pretty significant—that had an impression on me being like, “Oh, my God, where have I come!”
Did anyone pick you up from the airport? Or did you just take a taxi?
I was very lucky. I came with my mom. And we were able to take a taxi. We had already booked and planned our taxi. So, yes.
How did you feel once your parents obviously left and you were in college? How did you feel about the distance? How did it affect you?
I remember tearing up when my mom was sitting in the taxi to leave for LAX. And she was there for the first two, three days, where I was super busy with orientation. And I was scared and trying to figure out who my new roommate was and what this new college life is. I remember when my mom left, I was extremely sad. And I was like, “Oh my God, she's gone so far away, and I'm on my own here.”
What's your opinion on the American dream? In general?
I think it's overrated. What's my opinion on American dream? I think it's definitely overrated, but definitely the more I read, the more I learn, I see why everyone's fascinated with America. It's definitely a strong economy, definitely has influence all over the world. It's also a land of opportunities, and a country that taught me how to be more independent. And gave me all these opportunities to do and learn a lot of things and get to know myself better.
Can you expand on like some opportunities that you found that are very unique to America?
I feel like there are a lot of thought leaders that work both in America and the EU, and getting opportunities to be able to even learn from the greatest professors in the world and get one of the best educations from all across the globe. I think that was a pretty unique opportunity. Where I was able to learn what I wanted to learn, develop critical thinking skills, and what I would have done if I were in India.
Reflect on a time— or is there anything like particular that strikes you that makes you smile or cry from like your first couple days, like a significant moment?
Cry or smile? I just remember being terrified. And I remember I was walking, and I paused and I was like, “Oh my god, what have I done? Did I just make this whole decision to switch countries and move to a different place?” It makes me smile now because it was a crazy, brave decision. But yeah.
That's great. What are some people that helped your stay or your acclamation become much more easier?
I think college is a unique, new experience for everyone. Some of the friends that I found in college, there's still one of my greatest friends. I've known them for more than seven years now. So, they definitely helped, and we were all going through similar experiences. I have a lot of friends who came from different— a lot of other international students. We all came from different parts of the world and somehow ended up becoming really great friends, who definitely made this experience even more wonderful.
Building off that last question, were you able to find a community in the US?
This is a question that I think about pretty often. I think even in the US, as I move different cities, I've had different experiences building a community and building a strong friend circle. I think it's designed in a way where it's challenging to build community. It's way easier to build a community when you're in college. It's still challenging. Still takes time. But now as I'm working, living in new city, it's even more challenging to have that sense of belonging and building the community. I do feel like I do have a community, but it may not be a community that I interact with on a day-to-day basis or live with or have that sense in where I live in Washington D.C. right now.
Any particular message you would like to tell or something any message that you learned from your first days in the US? Any moral of the story?
Moral of the story is A. Be open to learning new things, meeting new people, be just open to new life experiences. If you're shut off in your old way of thinking, that's going to be hard. And B. try to be more brave and courageous about things. What's the worst that can happen?
Thank you!
