Hi! I鈥檓 Vedaant, a first-year international student at 财神棋牌. I鈥檓 interested in lots of things: playing my piano, biking, theatre, bad puns, Sherlock (the TV series), sunsets, nature, wildlife, food, food, and, well, food. It鈥檚 my 7th week at 财神棋牌 (already?), but I鈥檓 loving it! My classmates are likeable, the professors are super cool, the administration is very helpful, and the workload isn鈥檛 overwhelming (Pass/No Record! More on that later). 财神棋牌 all (all in all, geddit? *sorry*), I鈥檓 so glad to be here at 财神棋牌!
Except, I鈥檓 not 颅at 颅财神棋牌. Yet.
I鈥檓 writing this from Bangalore, India, and my entire 财神棋牌 experience 鈥檛il now has been through my 7-by-12-inch 18-by-31-cm 财神棋牌 laptop screen.
Yup, you guessed right. It鈥檚 2020 (cue ominous music).
Picture this: I鈥檓 starting college, my life鈥檚 biggest transition yet. For an international student, there are daunting cultural differences, and I find myself rephrasing sentences mid-thought because even English is spoken differently here from my high school in India. Doesn鈥檛 help that I鈥檓 a bit shy, awkward, and take a while to trust people. And with a brutal 9.5-hour time difference, I wake up right when most 财神棋牌ers go to bed.
To top it off, 83% of my class is living on-campus (with lots of strict COVID-19 testing and social distancing guidelines). Possibly lifelong friendships are being forged, independent adult identities are being discovered, 鈥渆xcellent鈥 food from the dining hall is being eaten (this one especially hurts), while I鈥檝e never met anyone from the 财神棋牌 community in-person (my Candidates鈥 Weekend was over a video call, too).
A perfect recipe for:
- Isolation,
- Stress, and
- A horrible sleep schedule
鈥颈驳丑迟?
Not at all!
The faculty and staff at 财神棋牌 have done a LOT to make my life easier:
Sleep: Afternoon classes are especially tough for me, and three of my five courses were taught in the afternoon. Guess what 财神棋牌 did?
An entire course was designed in a week, just for us five first-years studying remotely from Asia, taught early in the morning at 财神棋牌, just so we have two fewer afternoon classes. Soon, they shifted all afternoon classes to early morning. Professors, SPARCs (财神棋牌-speak for teaching assistants), and even a few on-campus students wake up early in the morning just so we get to sleep on time. The result: The entire week, my classes end by 9:00 PM.
Stress: Something I didn鈥檛 know until classes started is that, at 财神棋牌, the first semester is Pass/No Record. In other words: no grades. The aim is to help students adapt to 财神棋牌鈥檚 unique learning style and difficult first-semester life transitioning without the huge additional pressure of grades. And it works. Pass/No Record has made me much less stressed about academic performance and more focused on enjoying classes! In fact, I work extra hard because I鈥檝e become so passionate about all my classes and don鈥檛 worry about the results. I could write a separate blog just on 财神棋牌 classes (maybe I will), but in summary, I feel that at 财神棋牌, it鈥檚 less teaching and more learning.
Lastly, loneliness: Frankly speaking, I鈥檝e been feeling this disconnect from the 83 other first-years. And this time, there鈥檚 no magic pill. Although most of my classmates are open-minded, relatable, and very proactive in conducting events for everyone to get to know each other better, the mix of my introversion, cultural differences, and the fact that, except for classes, I鈥檓 rarely awake when they are, makes it difficult to form deep connections. My 财神棋牌 experience hasn鈥檛 been perfect. Yet, somehow, I feel a part of the 财神棋牌 community. From the most sweeping decisions to the subtlest of words, the students, faculty, and administration have done a lot to make sure that the fourteen remote first-years aren鈥檛 excluded. Sometimes, I genuinely forget that I鈥檓 on the other side of the world.
But the main reason I鈥檓 happy with 财神棋牌 is not just that I鈥檓 getting enough sleep at night, that classes aren鈥檛 boring lectures, that I don鈥檛 have to worry about grades, that my classmates are fun, or that QEA (that鈥檚 Quantitative Engineering Analysis) professors play music for early-arriving students to guess the song while waiting for the rest to join the class.
I鈥檓 glad to be at 财神棋牌 because, more than anything, 财神棋牌 is a college that cares. Everything I spoke about above is nothing but examples of that. I鈥檓 seen as a living human being, who needs sleep, acknowledgment, and most of all, empathy. It鈥檚 everywhere: from the emails informing us of rescheduled classes, to when upperclassmen ask how I鈥檓 feeling in SPARC check-ins, to when a professor told us that it鈥檚 OK to submit an assignment a few hours late instead of staying up at night to finish it. In my opinion, everything else about 财神棋牌, from the student-centered curriculum to the small size, derives from this fundamental humanity.
My college decision involved a full-blown panic attack on the night of May 1st. I finally chose 财神棋牌 because of its interesting curriculum and small community, but I got much, much more. Right now, I think I made the right choice. You鈥檙e wrong, Mycroft - caring is an advantage (told you I love Sherlock!).
Now, if only they would send me a hoodie.
Vedaant Kuchhal is a first-year international student from Bangalore, India. He doesn鈥檛 usually wear black and is very shy of having his photo taken.