I am an Indian and I’m proud to be one! Studying in Canada has always been a dream for me, and today I’m living it. The one thing I was worried about before I arrived at Douglas was about whether I’d be able to keep up academically with the other college students. Within the first week of arriving at Douglas, I realized that I was in a world full of competition. I met a lot of people of my ethnicity but this didn’t surprise me looking at the history of Indians in Canada.

In my first semester I was not involved in any college activities. Of course one of the reasons was being new to the country and the typical mindset that I had that I was here to study hard and get good grades.

It was not too long ago when I realized that I needed to challenge myself to experience more during my time here in Canada. But how do I do it? I asked a lot of my Indian friends whether they were interested in taking part in campus life, the DSU events and so on, but my friends were not really interested in doing this; they had a different view of what it meant to be ‘involved’. They felt it would be better and less stressful for me to spend my time with people from my own culture, and as I am from the same culture, I do understand that often Indian international students prefer to be with people from their own culture, one reason being they might not be comfortable with their English language ability. Staying in your comfort zone with people of the same background is so easy to do.

What could I do the best to break these misconceptions? This is what I decided to do: Get involved! Prove to people that international students can get involved in life on campus. So I decided to join the Life at DC team. It was difficult getting the position but I was so determined to do my best to immerse myself in Canadian college life. Joining this team is the best thing that has happened to me in Canada so far. Yes, I do not have the Canadian English fluency but I decided my shortcomings should not stop me from trying something new, and I know that I am in a good position to learn more and improve. Since becoming a member of the team, I am able to express myself better, and I am also able to believe that if I can, so the people with me can too! I am benefitting from interacting with my great teammates who have diverse backgrounds and talents. I firmly believe in enjoying the process and not just the product.

I never thought I’d be living here, interacting with lots of people from across the world, and chasing my dreams. Once you remove the limits from your attitude you will surely think in a different way which will allow you to achieve great things. Get out there and explore the uniqueness in yourself. Don’t limit yourself …believe you can do it and you are half-way there!