Intermediate, Jaipur (India), 2011

Union College, Class of 2012
Double Major in Biology and Anthropology
Residential Advisor, Union College

My anthropology professor informed me of the CLS Program.

Since high school I have been interested in Indian culture and I have taken few courses (including an Independent Study) to better understand the culture and one of the languages of India (Hindi).

This has always been a challenging question for me. I am currently an undergraduate studying biology and anthropology. Being in India and learning Hindi has exposed me to a country with very different yet very similar culture to my own. This will be useful in the application of me anthropology degree and just for a more worldly perspective.
As for my professional goals it is hard to say as I am still understanding what those will be, but being in India has helped me to better understand this. For example, I probably will not want to live in India permanently, but I would not mind coming to India for a few months in a year. I could more likely see myself in a career that helps Americans prepare to come to India.

I am using my target language to learn more about Indian culture. Though a large portion of population speaks English there are still many who do not. The Hindi I am learning has been very useful for both understanding what people are saying to me and for conveying what I would like to say to them.

In the near future I plan on continuing my language education. This will mean finding more resources at my college (or at another college) and in my hometown. I will continue facilitating the Hindi discussions at my college, but now with a lot more knowledge of the language and the culture. I would also like to talk with my school administration about starting a permanent Hindi language program.
As for the distance future this is again difficult for me to say. I am going to seek out a Minerva Fellowship (a fellowship that my college offers), which will allow me to spend a year in India (Rajasthan) after graduating. If I become a fellow I will have the opportunity to help strengthen the Bagru Textiles Export in India.

As explained above my career goals are still uncertain, but perhaps they are now more fine-tuned. I now know that being away from home is more difficult than I had anticipated so a career in which the majority of my time would be spent abroad would probably not be for me. This does not mean I am averse to spending more time in India, but perhaps this means I will focus more on US-Indian relations (where some of my time can be spent in India and most of my time can be spent in the U.S.).
Being in India has also made me realize that there is so much more about the India and the U.S. that I can/want to learn. This could be the focus if I decide to further my education.

Definitely the people. In the U.S. there are plenty of Indians but many of them are trying to Americanize. Here, Indians are Indian and want to be Indian. Some take pride in their country and offer a fresh and critical point or view about world politics, the economy, the state of poverty and corruption in India and the rest of the world, etc.
In general the way of life here is much different from what I am exposed to in America. At times it is a thrill, and many times I am pushed out of my comfort zone, because of this I have been forced to better understand myself (my values, and what information I use to make decisions in my everyday life).
What is truly my favorite part about India are the many cultures that can be found with in just a small part of India. For example, just in Jaipur there is a wide range of class, caste, religion, race, ethnicity, and physical abilities. While here I have truly enjoyed learning more about Indian food (paneer, curd, lassi, ghevar, jlebi, etc.), traditional Rajasthani folk dance, and Hinduism.

Prior to coming to India I understood it as a paradox. I still believe that this is true, but now I have better understanding of how and why. I think that it is important to understand that most of my learning here has been about the culture in Jaipur. This is an urban place and is probably vastly different from many other places in Rajasthan and the rest of India (ie. rural India, the south). I have learned through my host family a lot about the values and beliefs of the middle/upper classes of India. Through interactions with locals I have also learned a lot about the everyday struggles that less fortunate Rajasthani Indians have to face, such as lack of water, injustices, corruption, poverty, and slum life.
In the past I have been very critical of many Americans for being prejudice and I still believe that this is the case, but being here has made me understand the prejudices of the average person living in Jaipur (ie. religious, caste, and even their prejudices of Americans).
Since I have been here I have also been exposed to Indian popular culture through movies and songs that seem to be ubiquitous. Though this might seem trivial it is actually a great insight into the social norms and values of Indian society.

It is difficult to just choose one. I would say that one of my most eye-opening experiences was my first time in Bapu Bazaar. This is a large bazaar located just outside the old city of Jaipur. It was my first week in Jaipur and a group of CLS students decided to explore the bazaar. In addition to being my first bazaar experience, it was also the first time I encountered a begging children, haggling shopkeepers, hooting rickshaw drivers and it was the first time I smelled the vast range of smells that I was told I would experience in India. In retrospect it was a fun and enlightening experience, but at the time it made me question myself (what I am doing here?). It really took me out of my comfort zone and now I feel comfortable going into the bazaar and encountering all of this.

Again difficult to choose one. I learned this one in Udaipur during my midterm break when I was chatting (in Hindi) with a local shopkeeper. We were talking about teachers and he said,

As with most translations this is not direct, but the general meaning of this phrase is that a teacher (guru) is always important/necessary because the guru is the only one who can show you the path/way to god. This gave me insight into the value many Indians place on teachers and the role that teachers play.

I grew up on Long Island, NY. My family has an Italian heritage, but of course we enjoy American past times. Some interesting facts about myself are that I studied Ju Jitsu and Judo for thirteen years, and I am the first in my family to study abroad in India. I dance Bhangra (a traditional Punjabi dance form) and I am very involved with the LGBTQ community at my college (last year I was the House Manager of the LGBTQ safe space). I am one of three founding mothers of Alpha Delta Lambda, a local and community service-based sorority at Union College.

My father never takes credit for teaching me any of my academic skills (as he claims he was a bad student), but one art form he has passed down to me is the “gift of gab.” Because of that I love talking and listening to other people!