Home beckons international student during the summer

Ishaan Vadhera, a freshman economics major, is winding down his first year in America and will be going home to India for the summer months.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride,” Vadhera said. “New stuff and new people.”

He said the education system is different here than what he was used to before.

“[There is a] different change in the system of education I had for 13 years,” he said. “[The American system is] totally flexible in terms of what subjects I can take.”

He said American schools are very academically focused. At the same, time he loves the emphasis on extra-curricular activities and getting involved on campus.

Vadhera also said the quality of education is something he has always wanted because he couldn’t get it in India.

“I don’t want to compromise anything,” he said. “It’s been tough on me to get here, really tough. I’m under loans and everything, but I know that.”

Vadhera’s family is one reason he continues to work hard and succeed.

“If I can work hard and religiously, I can make my life better, and my life for my family better back home,” he said.

Vadhera has gotten involved in different organizations this semester, which he said has helped him adjust to being in another country.

“I just got initiated into a fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon,” he said. “I want to take up their position for alumni relations. I’m also a Sycamore Ambassador and on the executive board of marketing and communications.”

Apart from that, Vadhera is also involved in his department activities, is getting stuff done and is learning a lot more.

“The sense of missing your family, being gloomy and losing out on time and being productive has gone away,” he said. “I’m a very social person, but at the end of the day, you need someone to fall back on.”

The friends he has made here have given him a sense of comfort and stability.

“I found people, friends and brothers who are doing whatever it takes to balance me as an individual and emotionally,” he said. “[They] also help me explore new dimensions within myself in terms of guiding me the right way, telling me what not to do and what to do and still leaving the option open for me.”

Vadhera has gone home once for two weeks this year. He said he should not have and won’t next time because tickets are $1,600, and two weeks is not enough time to fly 24 hours.

He said going home gets hectic, but it is good to go during the summer, which is what he is looking forward to the most.

Vadhera said he misses his family the most.

“I really miss the touch of my mother,” he said.  “The food, oh my god, I mean it’s not like  we don’t have McDonald’s, but now I realize how much I love my food.”

He also said he is looking forward to being reunited with his friends.

“I have four best friends; one of them goes to Rose-Hulman,” he said. “The other two are in London and Singapore, and we’re all going to be together.”