The Priory Lit. Mag

Sharukh Kumar
America, a promised land of desires and dreams, took me by complete surprise when I moved away from my familiar Indian soil. The transition from India to America was difficult, to say the least. Most prominently was the fact that America presented me with a radically different experiences. In India, we never had to do homework and take tests every week. American education propelled me out of my confident, dependent self. Binders, notebooks, lockers, and planners were all foreign to me. Organization, responsibilities, money and food were things that I had to never worry about before. My mother and father had always provided these things for me in India. I had lived relatively sheltered and comfortable life to this point, but now I was plunged into a different world.

I was caught in my nostalgia. I could not forget India and the memories I had attached to it. I could not forget playing cricket with my friends on the street. I wanted to dance all night to Indian music with my friends. I started to develop a deep wistfulness and appreciation for my culture. In America, I did not know anybody. Oftentimes when I spoke, people laughed at my Indian accent or they would tell me to go away. I could not keep up with the rapid pace at which people spoke in English. I often had to ask people to repeat what they had said. The jokes were all foreign to me and I felt like an outsider.

Despite the social challenges, however, Woodside Priory School provided me with excellent academics, a multidisciplinary athletics program and a multi-cultural blend of students. Still, the first few months were a bit of a disaster I had to get over the cultural shock and the differences in academics. These months were the hardest I have endured thus far, but I never gave up. I decided even before arriving that I would try my best to get accustomed to the foreign culture I was entering. The transition from basketball to cricket was quite horrific. There were almost no similarities in the two sports. I could not figure out how to shoot the ball. It was all alien to me. However, I adapted and got a feel for the game.

My adventure to America surely changed the direction in my life. Before I embarked on this challenge, I saw the world from only one perspective: that of my sheltered life in India. I never knew that people could be so radically different in their languages, customs, and behaviors. My new home is diverse, Westernized and completely different from my childhood home. And yet, all of the challenges and opportunities have helped me to search for who I am amidst the cultures of America and India. I never knew I could fit so well into the American society which, until this point, was only seen in myths and legends in my small-town mind. The adventures of moving to a faraway land and learning to thrive have proven to me all that I am capable of, and shown me all I have yet to learn. After moving to America from India, I know that I can conquer any frontier and overcome any challenge. The world is mine to explore.