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| What a world! Students
of St John’s College, Cambridge, take a welcome
break |
During my first few days at the University of Cambridge, I remember asking a British fellow student where she came from. ?I?m from Dover,? she said, ?And you?? ?India,? I replied. ?Oh? she answered, rather startled, ?And I thought I had come a long way!?
For an Indian student, the thought of living and studying abroad can be a daunting prospect. After the initial euphoria of making it through, practical difficulties threaten to be overwhelming. My mind was buzzing with questions when I entered my college, St Edmund?s, for the first time last year. Will I be able to live on my own in a foreign country? Can I manage my own money? Can I tackle the academic pressure? And, perhaps most importantly, will I fit in and make friends? Will I be happy?
I was greeted by a little old lady at my college door, her wizened face creased in smiles. She was part of the college administrative staff. ?Let me take your bags up to your room, dear,? she said. It was one of those spontaneous gestures of help that I was to see more of at the university. As the international officer of my college this year, I find myself in a similar position to that lady, reassuring anxious new students that things will work out all right, and that help is always at hand.
| CHILL OUT |
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• It’s going to take a while to manage
your time well. Don’t stress yourself out
about it. If your room is too distracting for
studies, go to the library. It helps to see
others at work.
• Don’t make your life abroad centre
solely around academia. Go watch plays and musicals.
Try the opera. Or take up a sport. Travel around
a bit with friends. It’s your opportunity
to see the world — don’t miss out!
• Be friendly and warm towards people
you meet. And don’t be self-conscious about
your English pronunciation — people come
here from all over the globe and they have all
sorts of accents. It’s no reason to feel
inhibited about talking.
• In a small way, you are a cultural ambassador
of your country. Don’t trash the place
where you come from — it doesn’t win
you any favours.
• Keep an open mind. People might have
other views on what constitutes recreation,
relationships or research work. Accepting difference,
and finding it interesting, is a vital part
of international exposure.
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| D.G |
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Come September, prospective students
start packing their bags for foreign shores, but most of
them do not know what it will be like to actually live their
dream. International students have a lot of extra factors
to contend with, aside from the visa, medical check-up and
flight booking. Change in time zones and climate, other
types of clothes, a prolific range of accents to get used
to, cultural diversity and difference, homesickness are
only a few of these. Initially, I found myself entirely
unable to do the pound-and-pence maths and calculate whether
I?d got the right change back among all the unfamiliar notes
and coins!
As part of the student body at college now, the major aspect of my job is to ease the freshers into their new life. This begins by writing a welcome note on the college website and answering numerous questions via e-mail before term starts. An American girl was insecure about formal wear in Cambridge, while another newcomer wondered what the best mobile phone connection was, and which bank to go for. An Indian student wanted more information about her accommodation. She had heard that there was a homeless shelter right behind her house and she was concerned about reports regarding drunken behaviour and rowdiness on that particular street. As I reassured her about the safety of the location but also added a word of caution regarding walking home alone at night, I realised I was responsible for providing first-hand knowledge about an unfamiliar place.
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the welcome is the freshers? week, which includes fun events like punting, sightseeing, pub crawls and barbeques. Last year, students set up a parenting system, where they took on the roles of ?mums? and ?dads? to the freshers. This time, I will be part of a 24-hour help desk in the Combination Room which aims to assist the newcomers in every way.
The university encourages participation from the freshers. An annual Freshers? Fair is organised in October, where societies of the university (from drama and dance clubs to quirky ones like the Tolkien society) interact with newcomers and urge them to sign up. The Cambridge University International Club is also a good place to mingle with students from all parts of the world. The thrust is on getting them to meet as many people as possible so as not to let loneliness set in. And if all else fails, the pamphlets announcing free counselling services are impossible to miss.
The beginning of the academic year in Cambridge presents quite a different scenario from most colleges in India. Students who have been around the university for a while are not seeking to put freshers in their place, to rag or intimidate them in any way. Rather, they often go out of their way to be approachable and friendly. Establishing seniority is also hardly an issue, since many mature students (those above 21 years) in their first year may be older than those in their final year. Here, the process of initiation has only one message ? make yourself at home.
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