Almost as absurd as it sounds, many of us international students began our journeys to become a Trinity Tiger the day we landed at Trinity!
It was August 9th, 2010 that I left India to come to US for the very first time. Till now, all that I knew about the US was through Bollywood films and the stories that I had heard from people. The 5th Av, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Bridge, the beaches of Miami and many more of such attractions existed only in imaginations. I had never visited Trinity before and so, when I came to San Antonio and Trinity on August 16th, 2010 I never thought that I would come to connect with the place with the first sight. I know it sounds exaggerated and clichéd, but the walls and the campus felt welcoming. It felt like this is a place that I have been waiting for and have come half-way through the world; it felt like this is the place which will make it all worth to be away from home; that this will be the place where I will make new friends and relationships; where I will become what I wish to; where I will get the opportunities and the freedom to be myself and to see the transformation to change into an informed individual. But at the same time, sitting in the Yellow cab with my father by my side, I held his hand tightly for I did not know if I would be okay letting go of this support in this foreign land. I realized for the very first time that an entire Atlantic Ocean existed between my home in India and here and that I would not be able to take a flight back home whenever I wanted to go.
But during all this, I also knew that there has to be something that keeps this place alive and vibrant; that allows so many international kids like me to sustain themselves on its grounds. When all of us, the International students of Class of 2014 gathered a couple of days early for our very own, “International Student Orientation” by the international students from other years, it made us all realize that Trinity indeed has an international community. Among the many things that we were told and taught, like the semester system and credits, my favorite has been when they told us, “If you are pulled over by a cop, please don’t try bribing him. You will just land in more trouble.” I have never been more amused before.
All of us international students have left our intimate families back home and are here to find a new family, a new group of friends and a new “us”. While we all are excited to experience Trinity, when we came as first-year students, we had our insecurities and were not sure if we would “fit-in”.
But most of us have found new friends and have found new families who take us to be their kids, who invite us over for thanksgiving breaks and spring breaks; we are finding a new “us”; we are “fitting-in.”
The web album has pictures of my best friends. My best friends at Trinity, Jessica Abel and Michelle Padley and my best friends from back home, Aastha, Bhakti, Vaibhavi and Ekta.
These pictures teach me that if we give friendship a chance, they happen and with friends it does not matter if we share different nationalities but as long as we can still share a few talks over a cup of coffee or tea, we will remain friends for a lifetime! :)
It was August 9th, 2010 that I left India to come to US for the very first time. Till now, all that I knew about the US was through Bollywood films and the stories that I had heard from people. The 5th Av, the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Bridge, the beaches of Miami and many more of such attractions existed only in imaginations. I had never visited Trinity before and so, when I came to San Antonio and Trinity on August 16th, 2010 I never thought that I would come to connect with the place with the first sight. I know it sounds exaggerated and clichéd, but the walls and the campus felt welcoming. It felt like this is a place that I have been waiting for and have come half-way through the world; it felt like this is the place which will make it all worth to be away from home; that this will be the place where I will make new friends and relationships; where I will become what I wish to; where I will get the opportunities and the freedom to be myself and to see the transformation to change into an informed individual. But at the same time, sitting in the Yellow cab with my father by my side, I held his hand tightly for I did not know if I would be okay letting go of this support in this foreign land. I realized for the very first time that an entire Atlantic Ocean existed between my home in India and here and that I would not be able to take a flight back home whenever I wanted to go.
But during all this, I also knew that there has to be something that keeps this place alive and vibrant; that allows so many international kids like me to sustain themselves on its grounds. When all of us, the International students of Class of 2014 gathered a couple of days early for our very own, “International Student Orientation” by the international students from other years, it made us all realize that Trinity indeed has an international community. Among the many things that we were told and taught, like the semester system and credits, my favorite has been when they told us, “If you are pulled over by a cop, please don’t try bribing him. You will just land in more trouble.” I have never been more amused before.
All of us international students have left our intimate families back home and are here to find a new family, a new group of friends and a new “us”. While we all are excited to experience Trinity, when we came as first-year students, we had our insecurities and were not sure if we would “fit-in”.
But most of us have found new friends and have found new families who take us to be their kids, who invite us over for thanksgiving breaks and spring breaks; we are finding a new “us”; we are “fitting-in.”
The web album has pictures of my best friends. My best friends at Trinity, Jessica Abel and Michelle Padley and my best friends from back home, Aastha, Bhakti, Vaibhavi and Ekta.
These pictures teach me that if we give friendship a chance, they happen and with friends it does not matter if we share different nationalities but as long as we can still share a few talks over a cup of coffee or tea, we will remain friends for a lifetime! :)
