After preparing for a couple days before all the students arrived, the South Asian students presented on their cultures for the international students. You can read more here, and see a few student interviews here, beginning with Olga!
Monica
Mohammad
Rohini
Kultwisiso
Shilpi
Playing cricket at Rishi Valley
If you are reading this I’m guessing it’s for one of two reasons: one being that you’re looking for experiences that older applicants have gone through to make you even more excited about the trip, or you’re having second thoughts and have been pointed in the direction of my letter to you all for reassurance. To introduce myself, I’d like to start off by saying my name is Kyre Smith, I’m 17, from Chicago, and I’m one of the original applicants to this exciting adventure in the year 2015. If you haven’t already finished getting ready for the trip I can’t express to you enough through this letter just how important patience, perseverance, and hope are both on this trip and leading up to it. At times, you’ll give up like a few people in my group including me; but no worries, because it always worked out in the end. There will be challenges and there will be growth, both in yourself and the group, but in all honesty the reason I applied for the 360+ Leadership Collective is because of the challenges and the change in myself. Let me tell you a story about my chance with 360+ in my own way.
The morning I found out I was selected to be in the group and travel to India, my reaction was less emotional than my mother’s, but I was more than excited. I felt like I had won the lottery for the first time because it was just that exciting for me. From that moment on it was time to prepare. The vaccines were the least part of my worries; it was the passport that held me up. Being rejected twice for my passport was stressful, but that stress made obtaining it all the sweeter. Because of this I was able to communicate with my U. S. Senator (who helped me get my passport in the end) and I gained a new view on perseverance and just how important it was to have that in life. Leaving home was the least of my worries because I knew it would be there when I returned. Meeting the rest of the group—or my soon to be new additions to the family—was the challenge for me. Meeting new people has always been a challenge for me, but soon after we met we left for India and what I expected was nothing like what I saw: plenty of vegetation, crazy fun traffic, and a new horizon waiting to be explored.
I’ve had plenty of amazing experiences in India, but my favorite experiences were the crazy walks where you got to see a small portion of India because when you all walk together you tend to talk more so you don’t think about the walk; thinking helps you enjoy it. Also, the walk let us see wild monkeys and other exciting things leaving me amazed at the many crazy things you could see by just taking a step outside.
Meditating at Gandhi’s home
Interacting with the students at Mahatma Gandhi International School (MGIS) in Ahmedabad is another of my favorites. Talking, playing sports, and dancing with them was the best. I made many friends at that school and I try to keep in touch with them today.
My final favorite experience would have to be Rishi Valley as a whole. At Rishi Valley I lived the life of an adventurer, a student, a cartoon character, a farmer, and a teacher. I climbed a mountain with a friend, walked dark roads with flashlights in a group, went to classes with Rishi Valley students, got hit in the head with a coconut that fell from a tree, helped farmers turn homemade fertilizer, milked a cow, and taught others how to dance.
These experiences changed the way I saw a lot of things. I saw myself in a new fun, outgoing kind of way which is completely different from when I first started this trip. I saw India as this lovely place that I had to go back to, so I could revisit the beautiful parts again and hopefully see more. I saw that other than transportation, people, and shopping, India and the US are similar in so many ways. It’d take too much time to name them all. Being in India and going through what 360+ set up for me has made me into more of a global citizen and more open to the world around me.
As I’ve written before, a challenge for me was meeting my new family, but as time went on I overcame that fear. When I first met them, I was happy to have two friends that went with me, because me and new people are like oil and water. I didn’t want to mix, but I had to. I finally gave up on being a loner and started to interact with the group, and in the end that water and oil became a cake (after adding flour, chocolate, sugar, and eggs). In the future, these experiences becoming part of my 360+ family will empower me to never give up on getting others to see my vision.
An issue I’ve picked up on in India, is how when a nation achevies independence and freedom it brings hope of a changed life. To most people, this isn’t a big issue; however, in all honesty to me it is. Although “independence” brings hope of that change, this hope is weak and will soon enough fade. If you were to think of a poor family in a country where they don’t know the truth of other countries such as America, they would start to believe that by coming to America their lives would all just become better. In reality this change is nothing more than hope. You can’t escape your problems just by obtaining freedom and/or a sense of Independence; that’s only the first step. Becoming independent is a lot like a spark, weak and easy to go out, but with enough work and time it’ll become a flame. In order to truly make your life better you have to work at it with all you have. What I want to do is to bring a light to this truth, and start the sparks that’ll ignite the flame, not just create shallow hope for those who want it by saying” independence and freedom is a step away”, because that’s nothing more than false hope, it’s more like a skip, jump, hope, and maybe a few more miles afterwards. What I want to do is help others start their own journey to success.
Hopefully, my letter to you has made this trip that much more exciting for you or has reassured you if there were doubts, so if you do go on this adventure I want you to do three things: Study, Serve, Share!
Sincerely,
Kyre Smith, 360+ India 2015
My name is Selena Campos. I am seventeen years old and I am from Redwood Valley, California. The reason I applied for this trip was I always wanted to travel. I honestly didn’t care where to; I just knew that I wanted to go. It would be my first time out of California, and I was worried I would miss my family a lot. But the weeks few by too fast for me and by keeping myself busy I didn’t miss my family.
When I found out I was selected to go I was happy but my family was even more excited and happy than I was. I felt I would miss out on a lot of stuff, but everyone let me know it’s be waiting for me; nothing would change. I expected India to be crowded, hot, and noisy, with different foods. In India, the most amazing experiences for me were the other students. At first I thought it would be a long three weeks; but when I bonded with everyone, it made time go by fast—way too fast. It’s crazy how you can get so close to people you just met hours ago.
Second, I’d have to say all the people in India. The stares and everything made me feel like when an Indian or someone of a different race than American comes and how we stare. It kind of put me in their shoes. But as the days got closer, I got more excited. I really didn’t think I’d get to go on this trip even after I was selected. I didn’t want to get my hopes up and not be able to go.
Most of the people we met were so kind and friendly. India is such a peaceful country despite the noise. Although I don’t mind it, I’m going to miss the India craziness. Another amazing experience for me was the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad. I thought it was going to be a huge spectacular place, but it was really simple. I wasn’t having a good day that day, but just being able to explore it by myself let me feel better.
These experiences helped me learn more about myself than I thought because I now know I can trust and let people in in such a short period of time. It also let me step out of my comfort zone. I could actually allow myself to have fun and not worry about problems back home. I realized that it’s okay to do things for yourself. I’m going to be more independent when I get back. Also, it taught me to just go with it. You’re going to regret later, maybe in a day or years later, if you hold back. I wish I had realized that sooner in the trip.
These experiences truly helped me learn about India for myself. I got to see firsthand and think my own thoughts about India instead of hearing about it from people who have never ever been there. You can’t just listen to others’ stories. Go out and discover for yourself.
There are many similarities but also differences between India and the US. For me, I think India and the people are more friendly and welcoming. Second, I feel their education passes the US. But then also, not all children are allowed to go to school—mainly girls. Different places have a different way of teaching. Both the US and India have poverty but India has way more because they have more population. It’s also more noticeable in India. This trip taught me about global citizenship and anyone can be one if you’re accepting and willing to contribute to that country. That can mean going by the way they dress or just helping out.
This trip has helped me overcome challenges and grow personally. One challenge I overcame personally was talking with others and letting them know me. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to, but everyone was so friendly, which made it easy. In the end, I don’t want to say goodbye to any one of them. I believe we all have a relationship with each other and hopefully it’ll last. In the future, these experiences will empower me to do just about anything. Knowing I survived these weeks and had an amazing experience doing so will always be in my mind whenever I’m having doubts about anything. Just take one day at a time or even just an hour but you’ll make it and have an experience from it. Whether it be a good or a bad experience you can always know did it.
A global issue that I have become aware of through my participation in the 360+ Leadership Collective is water. I will be more conservative with water because I’ve been able to see not all people have running water or even clean water. Water isn’t the only thing I have been aware of. I will work on other issues as well.
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone I’ve met while on this trip. Especially the other students, because without them, this trip wouldn’t have been the same. Take a chance when an opportunity like this is given to you. I have made memories that will last a lifetime. I will remember the people and experiences hopefully forever. I hope to come back to India. It’s going to be weird going back to the USA because I’m so used to the traffic here. It wasn’t as bad as I imagined; I like it better than the driving in the US. This trip has helped me grow in ways I didn’t know were possible. I thought I’d go home the same person, but I can already see the change in me.
My name is Antonieta Portillo, or to the 360+ group, I am known as Shorty. I am 17 years old, and I am from Santa fe, new Mexico. The reason I applied for the 360+ Leadership Collective is because it gave me a great opportunity to learn about another culture outside of the US.
When I found out I had been selected to go, my reaction was excitement and nervousness. I felt excited and nervous because I was one out of about 50 other young adults chosen to go on this trip. I was nervous because the trip consisted of 3 weeks, which means I was going to be away from my family, something I had never done before. What I expected in India was crowded streets because its population is over 1.2 billion people.
In India, the most amazing experiences for me were the Taj Mahal, gandhi Ashram, and getting to know my peers. The Taj Mahal was an amazing experience because the Taj mahal wasbuilt in 22 years and it involved 20,000 workers. I can’t really explain the feeling I had when I first saw the Taj. All I can say is that is “beautiful”. When I saw the Taj it was a dream come true, because for years I dreamed of someday visiting it, but never thought I would actually have the chance.
As I said, the Taj is very beautiful because it was built with great detail. The way it was built is interesting because it was buildt according to Islamic architecture. The monuments and structure and design is unique because its structure is an octagon which allows cool breeze to be felt form the outside.
The Gandhi Ashram was another amazing experience because I was able to see Gandhi’s home. His home also represented the Indian freedom struggle. The indian struggle is seen in his home when you first learn that his home was the main place from where Gandhi led the salt march on 12, march 1930. This was an astonishing experinece because Gandhi is such a noible and humble man that his technique to deal with the british was non violence. His home also gave a feeling of peacefulness the whole time I was there. It was also really cool stepping on ground that gandhi had stepped on.
getting to slowly meet my peers is also another stunning experience because when you first meet people you have first impressions that you later find out were not true. For example, I thought my now friend Arianna was mean because she has at times a very serious face. i also thought that francisco was cocky but he is definitely not. It was also fun learning that I was not the only one with wrong first impressions.
The monument and Gandhi Ashram helped me see several differences and similarities between the US and India. One similarities that I was able to see is that each monument, museum, memorials built in these two different countries is that each has their own story and meaning behind it.
Another similarity about the monuments in both countries is that people are allowed to go out to these places although there maybe some restrictions such as not being able to take any photographs.
One difference that I was able to see is that when we went to the Taj Mahal there were many men trying to sell you things, and were persistent on trying to get your attention on buying the things they were trying to sell. This is a difference because I had not experienced something like this. These experiences helped me learn about global citizenship because now not only know about my own cities culture but now I also know a little more about India’s history and culture. I was able to learn about an important leader of non-violence, Gandhi, when we visited his house. I was also able to see how we would thread and learned that even when he was at meetings with the british he would weave because it became a symbol of independence. It’s symbolized independence because he wanted to let people know that people can be masters of their own destiny and did not need the British to master them.