Welcome back to The Pasupu! After a long and hard semester of college, we're back! And speaking of college, we interviewed two international students about their experiences being in an American Institution. Keep scrolling to learn more about their unique perspectives!
Tell us about yourself!
Anushree: I am Anushree Jalan (right) and I am from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. I am an international student at IU studying Marketing.
Preithy: I am Preithy Guvvala (left) and I am from Hyderabad, India. I was born in America and my parents and I moved to India soon after I was born. I spent 2 years in Pune, and I’ve lived in Hyderabad onwards. I am studying Economics at IU!
What inspired you to start to come to school in the US over studying in India?
Anushree: It was about the experience, learning more, and exploring. In India, once you’ve chosen a career path, that’s it. It’s pretty hard to change your education and you may even have to apply to a new school. The US has a lot more flexibility and it’s easier to change your major. You can even go to different colleges within the university. Also, minors are also super cool and something that you could never do in India.
Preithy: For me it was me, it was more about the career path I decided to choose: Economics. This whole liberal arts foundation is not so good in India, compared to Mathematics. I really wanted to get a very strong liberal arts foundation, which is just not available in India and that’s why I wanted to come to America.
What has been the most challenging adjustment you’ve had to make since you’ve moved to the USA?
Anushree: I feel like one of the things I’ve had to deal with is connection. The way I grew up is vastly different compared to people in the US. For example, a way people here connect is by:
“Oh you’re from there? I have a family member there.”
But, I could never relate to this at all. When I say I’m an international student, it’s really hard for people to make a connection; there’s no commonality I have with others.
During my first semester, I made friends with international students in my class. By the end of every semester, I realized I had so much work to do. I had so much work to do here and no one to walk me through it. It can be frustrating and it’s my breaking point.
There’s definitely more pressure to be successful, especially because of the money aspect. When thinking of international students, people usually think they’re really rich, and I’m not going to deny that my family doesn’t have money. But the way I was raised, I was taught to value money. If I don't perform well in school, I feel guilty because my parents are spending so much money on my tuition.
Preithy: For me, it was obviously a shift in lifestyle. The way I grew up in India was a lot more sheltered. I was taken care of a lot more, even for the tiniest things. After I came here, my parents just told me to go to Texas and visit my uncle if there was something I needed. But in reality, I learned how to live on my own and explore. So the biggest change for me was coming from being super sheltered to be forced to navigate everything on my own. Initially I felt like I was all alone, but with clubs and people in my Economics department, I felt a lot more welcomed.
I don’t come from such a privileged background as other international students. I feel the pressure that I have to reduce that financial burden on my family. A reason why I did my first 2.5 years of college in India so I wouldn’t have to spend money on housing. I always try to be my best because of how expensive education is here.
Irrespective of your financial backgrounds, I’ve noticed that a lot of international students have a value of returning favors back to their families. We are traveling out of the country for education, so it only feels right to do something for our parents.
What is something you like in the USA that India doesn’t have?
Anushree: The one big reason I want to stay in the US is because I am queer.
No matter how many bills get passed in India, it’s much safer to be out here in the US than India.
For years to come, there will be no chance in India that I will be out to my co-workers. But here, many businesses try to be supportive of being queer.
Preithy: The idea of asking questions.
You cannot question your authority, the government, or the environment in your house to test your superiors in India.
You don’t even have to be in disagreement with them or rebel, but just putting your thoughts across to older people is not allowed. In America, you can test your superiors in a nicer way, and I’ve noticed that you just cannot do this in India; in fact I’ve noticed that India is moving backwards in regard to this.
What are some initial culture shocks you experienced when you first moved here?
Anushree: I was very much the kid who dreamed of coming to the US. I would read so many books when I was younger that took place here; I wanted silly things like a locker and no school uniforms. Before coming here, I had a lot of knowledge about American culture since I consumed so much American media, so I didn’t have many culture shocks; I was pretty prepared.
However, the education system here was a shock. There are a lot of assignments, projects, and papers due every week. In India, it’s mostly just exams, at least where I am from. It was hard adjusting to having so much work to do and remembering that every little assignment can impact my grade.
And of course, a shock for me was frat boys being frat boys!
Preithy: In the US, roads are different from India. So, when I was first getting used to the bus system in college, I was so confused on which side of the road to stand at when waiting for a bus, and I had to completely rewire my thinking process.
The biggest thing was price. In India, your everyday needs like groceries and Ubers are pretty cheap. When I came here, I would keep comparing prices to India and I would be shocked at how expensive eggs would be, or the price of a very short Uber.
Do you feel that your campus is diverse?
Anushree: I’m in the bubble that it is, but I know it’s not. If you go to an American party, you will see that it is definitely not diverse.
Preithy: When I’m inside my Economics department, I feel that it is pretty diverse, but that may be because it's skewed by a lot of Masters/PhD students who are mostly Asians. If I step outside, it’s not as diverse in my opinion. I feel like there are efforts being made to diversify campus, but then there are incidents that set us back. IU is that place where you can find your community, so I wouldn’t say it isn’t diverse, but I also wouldn’t say it is diverse.
Do you feel welcomed at this college? What are some ways the college has helped you integrate?
Anushree: I feel like the only integration I got was when I first moved into college as Freshmen and I was asked to come a week early. This was required of all international students. This helped me make friends among the international students. But to be honest, that’s all they’ve done. To be honest, I don’t know how helpful the Office International Services (OIS) is since not many people attend their events.
There are minor things that the OIS could’ve helped with, like taxes. Yeah, there’s a page on taxes on their website, but an actual email or event could’ve been so much more beneficial.
Preithy: I wasn’t treated like an International Student because I was born in the United States. I’ve spent the life I’ve known in India, and I was in America for maybe the first two years of my life. Yes, there were scholarships and other things. But in terms of making me feel integrated, the college itself did nothing. I felt involved and welcomed more by the clubs I was a part of. In classes, there would be a gap between how international students perceived things, versus American students. There isn’t anything within courses to bridge that gap, unless the professor is personally passionate about it. I remember in one of my classes, I was in a breakout room and quickly realized that I was the only person of color. When I was in that group, no one was talking and it didn’t help that I was very shy. My professor reached out to me after and made sure I was adapting well, but not everyone does this. The student involvement groups are doing a good job at inclusion, but IU overall does not.
Do you feel that there is a divide between the South Asian Community when it comes to International Students vs South Asian-American Students?
Anushree: There is a divide, but I don’t know how to explain it. There is a very different perception of what South Asian American (SAA) students think India schooling is like, versus what it actually is. There is also a divide because a lot of international students come from privileged areas, if I’m being honest. Most of our parents are very liberal when it comes to certain things, but SAA students think we’re conservative. Also, some people, like my friends, make an effort to reach out to international students because they know that it’s important to include us in society. But, things get confusing because some international students don’t want to leave their circle, and some SAA students don’t want to go the extra mile to include us.
When there is an Indian Student Association event, SAA students may judge international students for the way they are acting.
But, this is the one time international students can be open about their culture and behave like themselves.
I don’t think they understand that.
Preithy: I’ve made one observation from the time that I’ve been here. SAA students have had a lot more unique experiences than international students. Automatically, I’m reserved when it comes to the way things work. Initially, why International students don’t interact is because we are scared to be wrong, we don’t have the same confidence.
What are a few assumptions/stereotypes you believe that South Asian-Americans hold against International Students?
Anushree: There are a lot of things, and a lot of these assumptions are true. There’s the assumption that international students are super rich and throw money around like it’s nothing. And it’s pretty true, at least to some extent. It’s the stereotypes that people have about Asian people, and then SAAs apply these stereotypes to us. Why are you doing this?
They forget that we are immigrants. We are assimilating to the American culture as we live. They have to think of us as their parents, but their age.
I feel like that’s something that could be worked upon to be honest. SAAs think that the only correct mindset to have is theirs’, but it’s not. We are not in the same boat. I feel like SAA students think that international students should act like them, like the children of immigrants. But, they don’t remember that we are the immigrants.
There’s also the stereotype that we are more conservative, but that’s because we want to preserve our culture and feel connected to our home.
Preithy: I don’t want to generalize because I’ve met a lot of very kind and accepting SAA students. But I’ve observed that people think international students are here just to make money. Everyone who works in the dining hall are Indians, and they work a crazy number of hours. We are here to work and send money back home, but that’s only a small reason why we are here.
Were you surprised to see hostility towards you?
Anushree: I expected a lot more blatant racism since I knew I was coming to a red state. But of course, I did not because I’m coming to Indiana University. However, as soon as I stepped off campus and went to Wal-Mart, I’d hear people say “talk in English.” There was racism, but it was mostly in the form of microaggressions.
Preithy: It was more or less expected because when I was in high school, people from America would come to visit and they’d say things like “oh you have wifi here!” It’s pretty funny, but they are living under a rock. I think it’s ironic because people associate Indians with being tech-geniuses.
What are some ways that you can feel more included on campus?
Anushree: It would be a lot easier to integrate if there was something done in classes. I wish our perspectives could be heard because we have a lot we can bring to the table. Imagine how beneficial it would be to have a global perspective in a business school! As mentioned earlier, when thinking of international students, we just think of Asian Students, but there are also students from other countries.
So listen to us, listen to our perspectives.
Preithy: If there’s one thing IU can do, it’s to integrate international students within the entire university, not just with other international students. If they really want to integrate international students within the campus, there should be this lens that doesn’t view them separately, but you see them together with other students. The tagline “International Students” should be used wisely, because it can cause more divide than you think. It’s the same as addressing minority groups; it’s important that we address that they are there, but we shouldn’t make them feel singled out or different.
Thank you once again to Preithy and Anushree for sharing their experiences! It's important that we continue to learn about ways we can be more inclusive! We hope you found this post insightful! Be on the lookout for a NHIE Season 4 Review post coming up soon!