The biggest journey of my life was my relocation from Chennai, India to Queens, New York. My father had come to New York on a business trip and my mother and I came for a brief vacation. I don’t know why they listened to an eight-year-old child, but my parents agreed without a moment’s hesitation when I told them that I wanted to live in New York permanently. On July 2nd, 2001, my parents and I moved to New York for good. Everybody knows that children always want to know, “Are we there yet?” I’m sure I asked my parents that question every five minutes on a trip that took about 18 hours! That’s because I was more excited than I had ever been.

Moving to New York changed everything. I had my first encounter with a multiple choice exam. In India, the education system was completely different! There was no concept of choosing between three possible answers. So, when I saw that the answer to the question was provided on my test, I informed the teacher that I had the answer key to the exam. The teacher just told me to “bubble in the correct answer.” Although the education system was alien to me, I still embraced the changes. I learned to think for myself and I learned to be creative. For the first time, I did school-related projects that involved art. It was a whole new world for me. The creativity that I learned in elementary school still helps me with my TV show, India Talks.

I thought that moving to New York would be the most exciting thing that could happen to me. However, college has changed that idea. I’m learning so much everyday and making new friends. Coming to Baruch has been amazing thus far. I’m learning so much more than I expected to. At first, the hour-and-twenty- minute classes took me by surprise. I had only had forty-six-minute classes in high school. So I was concerned about my ability to focus. However, I’ve since gotten used to the class timings. Now, my primary concern is budgeting my time efficiently between my TV show and school. However, I’m excited to take on the challenge and make it work.