Summer Internship at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Anushree from IIT Roorkee
Wildcard entry for: – 19th August 2012
Name of the intern: – Anushree
Institute: – IIT Roorkee
Organization interned with: – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
The first glance at the email confirmation that said, “You have been selected for the ITI summer internship 2012..” came as a shocker to me. Literally I couldn’t believe that I was in. But this meant the beginning of a life changing experience. With all the VISA and AIR India flight hurdles cleared, I boarded my flight to Chicago. Well the feeling of steeping on a foreign land alone with a backpack (lappy bag) for the first time is truly amazing. After a bus journey of 5 hours I reached Urbana-Champaign, the twin cities, at midnight and there was a car waiting to pick me up. I was given the keys to a cozy apartment and I dozed off soon after.
The next day began with a Maggi and google maps, clicking a picture of the route it showed on my phone and heading towards the destination, Coordinated Science Laboratory (obviously a little early). With happy faces greeting me and everything, it all felt so home-like. Everything was in place and my professor was the most wonderful mentor one could ever have. I realized everybody was so happy out here. There were people who helped me beyond my expectations. There were random people who would happily walk with you to the place you were searching. They weren’t cribbing about their jobs or whatever and being greeted by random strangers was so normal. Soon enough, I started following the footsteps, passing on a smile while on the road, saying a “Thank you” to the bus-driver.
The internships in foreign lands are times when you feel like a kid all over again, when little things make you happy. You see some things done in a different way, some exotic dishes, the local favorite and you just go ‘wow that’s cool’. There were musical concerts almost everyday in one of the numerous public parks whose schedule you had to see from their properly maintained website. And not to say they were free movies and also free drinks at some places. There were food festivals and the 4th of July parade with a giant air filled frog :D.
There was this feeling of Yuhoo when I baked cookies and brownies with my roommate Rose. I also loved the day when I did YOGA at the quad (a large grassy plot of land that can be called the heart of the campus) . I enjoyed eating the cotton candies that were provided by the alumni for everyone. I enjoyed walking through the streets where many Nobel Laureates would have strolled through when they hit upon some awesome idea. I loved some cute cars and some really awesome Harley Davidsons. It was the time of some amazing trips, some mind boggling roller coasters, and well the awesome Niagara falls. It was also the time when I became serious about work and felt bad when I didn’t do anything for 6 hours. It was the time when every moment was a moment of learning. It was the time when I truly appreciated diversity and heard stories of people from India, who came to USA just because it had FREEDOM.
There were many fellow interns working in different departments and still we felt connected because of the mere fact that we were Indians. It was the time when I realized that though we all loved the freedom there, almost everyone of us wanted to come back to India. There were times when people said Namastey to you when you shopped in Walmart. There was an uncle who literally made his way through the vegetable racks and fetched an onion which I had accidentally dropped. He was 80. I saw the delight in his eyes when he saw an Indian, and it seemed that he had really enjoyed some trip long back to India and just loved it. He greeted me with a Namastey. This experience changed the way I looked at India and made me love it even more. USA is an amazing place to be.
The internship experience was awesome. The work culture was great, the professor was great, and the research was cutting edge. I met some really nice people out there. No wonder I miss everything about USA. When it was about to end, it felt like somebody took the chocolate ice-cream even before I could like fully appreciate it. Traveling teaches you a lot and I wish more of us took time to enjoy the life, took some time off, and traveled to exotic places.
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