Life as an International student

Did you always dream of going to a different country, achieving something on your own, and living an independent life? I am not sure what I wanted, but I always wanted to be someone I could be proud of in the future.

America’s given all kinds of feelings and emotions in 2 months; India has never managed to in 21 years. There’s a newfound sense of freedom that scares me as much as it excites me, enormous amounts of strength and confidence that I have to find every day, protect my mental health, and find peace and balance among so many responsibilities and chaos.

I loved my first 10 days in America; it felt like a holiday, and the eleventh day was when the homesickness crept in. I cried for hours that day, questioning the choice I made. Every day you wake up missing home, and you hate the feeling of ending the video call with your parents. At times, you feel so helpless that you hate yourself for it. Having said that, it’s not all bad. I get to meet new people from different parts of the world every day, see some beautiful places in and around the city, and my first fall season, my first-ever Halloween—all these things make it a little better.

Moving abroad, the most important and toughest part for me was understanding the different personalities of people and being able to find common ground and live together with them. I am still learning how to do this.

Hopefully, I get better, and when I look back at it in a couple of years, I will be grateful for the experience.