Why India?

This is always the first question I receive when I tell someone that I'm going to India, and it's usually followed with something like, "Oh I knew a guy who went there," or, "OOH BE CAREFUL!!"

I would like to answer this question with a different one; Why not India?

It dawned on me one day as I was advising a student on study abroad at my university's international center that I could do this whole study abroad thing again.  I mean, I could've spent my last semester at GVSU, where everything would be routine and I would have a great job, or (for pretty much the same price) I could spend my last semester in one of the world's most complex societies, where almost nothing will be routine.  The answer to me seemed simple.

The resources we as Americans have for travel abroad is incredible, especially in college.  There are plenty of countries who will offer us jobs as English teachers just because of the language we speak.  Because of this, I feel a sort of obligation to utilize these resources as much as possible.

And I don't value travel abroad simply for the leisure aspect of it (although that is a nice perk!), rather I value it for the challenges it brings.  When you travel abroad plenty of things become instantly more difficult.  A trip to the grocery store lasts hours instead of 15 minutes.  The idea of sleeping in your own bed in your own room becomes a luxury.  The line between clean and dirty laundry begins to blur.  You spend hours doing the hurry-up-and-wait as you adjust to using pubic transit.  In short, each day becomes an adventure and you no longer take things for granted.

Each day of challenges shapes you and makes you grow.  Things stop being black-and-white like they used to be back in freshman year.

And so, when you finally return from a trip abroad, you question things more.  You wonder why we do certain things the way we do.  You gain the ability to see things from a different perspective.

That is why I am choosing to spend my last semester in India.  I want my thought processes and values to be challenged.  I want to pull insights from these challenges.  And I want to share these insights with anyone who will listen, because stepping out of your paradigm and understanding what makes other people tick is how progress is made.


I also owe a HUGE thank you to my friends and family, specifically my mother and father, for being supportive of me in doing this.  The reality is that not everyone can afford to take these kinds of trips and I feel incredibly lucky that I am able to.  I certainly do not take these trips for granted, and having the support of friends and family really comes in handy when you're abroad, especially when you're sleep-deprived and laying on the ground at 3:00 AM in a German train station!

So thanks everybody!!! And double thanks to you Maw and Paw!!!

bis nächstes mal,
Ryan