I have a lab final in twenty minutes . . . . . and I’m going to take a moment to appreciate my TA, Gopal.
My roommate, friends, and I, between all of our chemistry labs, have a conglomeration of TAs that are Indian, Russian, Caucasian, and Chinese. And boy do they make our day!
My TA Gopal is probably the nicest man I’ve ever met. He hangs out with my roomie’s TA, and he has a thick accent and his voice cracks when he speaks. He’s always eager to help us, and he gets excited when he sees us outside of class. I’m quite an appreciator of his mannerisms, as is everybody else in his class. He does his absolute best to make sure we understand the experiment, and when we yell out his name in frustration in the middle of the lab he always comes over to have a look at our experiment and correct whatever we’re doing wrong.
Every Thursday at the beginning of lab he gives us a short lecture on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Sometimes we don’t pay attention . . . . . but he tries hard to make us listen anyways. I was really surprised to find myself with him, and a chinese TA for my other lab in the middle of New Orleans, Louisiana, but it just proves that diversity exists in the most random places!!!
Now we all know that chem lab is generally not too much fun . . . .but with TAs like these, its a lot better. I feel like no one taught these people who are only a little older than us to reach out the way they do, but they understand the frustration of not understanding and try to facilitate our lab experiences as much as possible. This is unique to TAs that tend to be immigrants or international students because unlike others, they don’t automatically assume that we get it.
Really, in a million years, I would have never expected to meet my TA Gopal at Tulane University. But after a semester of lab, and with my lab final approaching in now 10 minutes, I’m really glad I met him. It was just another experience I never thought I’d have at Tulane and I did and ultimately it expanded my horizons a little farther.
And isn’t that the whole point of college? To expand the horizons, stretch the bounds of the imagination . . . . .
Anyways, I have to go to my final now!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Semiformal Fun
Sometimes, the best part of a year’s hard work is the celebration at the end!
. . . . which brings me to AJ’s Semiformal 2006 Adventure. Ironically enough, the two semiformals I had to attend were held at the same place, at overlapping times. There was the India Association of Tulane University’s semiformal in the upstairs of a restaurant, and my sorority’s downstairs at the same restaurant. It was amazing!!!
We had a great night! There was food, there was dancing, and there was great company! Semiformal is not only an excuse to get dressed up, but an excuse to tell other people they look great without hitting on them. (Or so I thought! =) )
My date Austin wasn’t feeling terribly well on our Semiformal night, but we still had a great time. What adventures we ended up having . . . . . . we had to figure out a way to rotate between the two formals, almost lost my sorority’s scrapbook, left early, and then my suitemate left my purse filled with her belongings in a cab. She was a tad emotional, so Austin was pulling tricks out of his hat left and right to keep her from crying. It was a night that I’ll definitely remember.
Then a few hours later the other kids started coming home . . . . some in better shape than others. A night out on the town wearing the pointy heels with plenty of food and drink can really wear on a person! There is such a thing as having too much fun!
All in all, it was amazing. While there a friend of mine called me from LSU and complained that he never had a chance to dress up like that (and he LOVES dressing up!).
All I had to say was hey . . .it’s Tulane. It’s classy.
Austin telling a joke to me!
. . . . which brings me to AJ’s Semiformal 2006 Adventure. Ironically enough, the two semiformals I had to attend were held at the same place, at overlapping times. There was the India Association of Tulane University’s semiformal in the upstairs of a restaurant, and my sorority’s downstairs at the same restaurant. It was amazing!!!
We had a great night! There was food, there was dancing, and there was great company! Semiformal is not only an excuse to get dressed up, but an excuse to tell other people they look great without hitting on them. (Or so I thought! =) )
My date Austin wasn’t feeling terribly well on our Semiformal night, but we still had a great time. What adventures we ended up having . . . . . . we had to figure out a way to rotate between the two formals, almost lost my sorority’s scrapbook, left early, and then my suitemate left my purse filled with her belongings in a cab. She was a tad emotional, so Austin was pulling tricks out of his hat left and right to keep her from crying. It was a night that I’ll definitely remember.
Then a few hours later the other kids started coming home . . . . some in better shape than others. A night out on the town wearing the pointy heels with plenty of food and drink can really wear on a person! There is such a thing as having too much fun!
All in all, it was amazing. While there a friend of mine called me from LSU and complained that he never had a chance to dress up like that (and he LOVES dressing up!).
All I had to say was hey . . .it’s Tulane. It’s classy.
Austin telling a joke to me! 
My suitemate Jen and me 
Jen and Chris
Awww . . . my date Austin and me Saturday, April 22, 2006
Friends and more
Sometimes, life can be sort of disappointing.
Here at Tulane, we just had elections for the India Association of Tulane University. I wanted to run for a particular position, but I changed to a position that I knew nothing about because someone more hardworking than me would then be running by herself for that position. It was a good move . . . .and I thought I was doing the mature thing . . . until all of my friends got onto the board except for me.
But then I realized: I’m just a freshman. I don’t have to belong to a certain clique or group, because I’m going to meet so many people over the years. I don’t need to limit my friends, because I’d rather have a lot of different friends than a group with whom I always do stuff. And I’ve found the best friends in people outside that group. Here at Tulane, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to bond with people that have similar backgrounds to mine. At UT, that was considered a bad thing, because the groups were almost separated, like people would only hang out with others like them.
As I was sulking a bit about the fact that maybe I just don’t fit perfectly into this group, someone pointed it out to me: that just because people are my race and religion doesn’t mean that they have to be my primary group of friends. I’ve met so many people that aren’t Indian or South Asian, and I rather like hanging out with all of them. I have friends here that are of almost every different type of background. Tulane breeds diversity in a lot of different ways–my boyfriend is Jewish, Italian, and from Portland, Oregon. My best friend is Scotch Irish, her mother is Buddhist, and she’s from Blacksburg, Virginia. How much more different can you get?
In the end, I have to see this as a good thing. I’m not doing something on the board that I don’t really want to do, and people who really want it have got their places. I can still be involved without being on the board . . . . and most importantly, I don’t feel so pressured to fit in with that particular group.
So this is my goodbye to my position on the board of IATU . . . . . all of my friends on the board will certainly see me working hard again next year. Just because I’m Indian doesn’t mean I have to fit into that group.
Essentially, the environment here at Tulane is set up so I have so many options free of the stereotypes that prevail at schools like UT.
I’m free.
<<(IATU Board 2006)
Here at Tulane, we just had elections for the India Association of Tulane University. I wanted to run for a particular position, but I changed to a position that I knew nothing about because someone more hardworking than me would then be running by herself for that position. It was a good move . . . .and I thought I was doing the mature thing . . . until all of my friends got onto the board except for me.
But then I realized: I’m just a freshman. I don’t have to belong to a certain clique or group, because I’m going to meet so many people over the years. I don’t need to limit my friends, because I’d rather have a lot of different friends than a group with whom I always do stuff. And I’ve found the best friends in people outside that group. Here at Tulane, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to bond with people that have similar backgrounds to mine. At UT, that was considered a bad thing, because the groups were almost separated, like people would only hang out with others like them.
As I was sulking a bit about the fact that maybe I just don’t fit perfectly into this group, someone pointed it out to me: that just because people are my race and religion doesn’t mean that they have to be my primary group of friends. I’ve met so many people that aren’t Indian or South Asian, and I rather like hanging out with all of them. I have friends here that are of almost every different type of background. Tulane breeds diversity in a lot of different ways–my boyfriend is Jewish, Italian, and from Portland, Oregon. My best friend is Scotch Irish, her mother is Buddhist, and she’s from Blacksburg, Virginia. How much more different can you get?
In the end, I have to see this as a good thing. I’m not doing something on the board that I don’t really want to do, and people who really want it have got their places. I can still be involved without being on the board . . . . and most importantly, I don’t feel so pressured to fit in with that particular group.
So this is my goodbye to my position on the board of IATU . . . . . all of my friends on the board will certainly see me working hard again next year. Just because I’m Indian doesn’t mean I have to fit into that group.
Essentially, the environment here at Tulane is set up so I have so many options free of the stereotypes that prevail at schools like UT.I’m free.
<<(IATU Board 2006)
Monday, April 17, 2006
Two Weeks for Tulane
As I write this blog, I realize there are about two weeks left in this semester. It’s now the home stretch–third exams and final assignments come into play, with final exams right on their heels. I have a couple of Bs that need to be brought up to As. Luckily, most of my professors and TAs are lenient enough to let me do that. I always have this to do list that always has studying somewhere on there but somehow it never becomes a priority.
Until finals.
Now I won’t lie to you and say that I’m an unusual student, and that most kids are on top of things. I’d say the overwhelming majority of college students, especially freshman, save their studying to the very last minute. In this case, its the two last weeks of classes. Everyone then starts struggling to yank up those grades in the final few days before exams, because of course, no one wants their entire fate to depend on final exams. Final exams tend to be way too stressful to do that.
Last semester at UT, I was doing the same exact thing–studying like crazy the last few weeks of school. But at UT, I had to approach my professors and TAs to ask for help where I needed it. I had to convince them that I was indeed a hardworking student. Most of them didn’t know me at all . . . .some didn’t even know my name. When I applied to UT last year, I thought I wanted to go to a HUGE school to be a part of that vast network. Now I’m starting to realize the advantages of a smaller school.
As of now, I have a B in chem lab and in chemistry. My chemistry TA I see every week in Bruff, and sometimes we eat together. My chemistry professor is a Senior Fellow for Wall Residential College of which I am the president. Both of these people know me well enough to realize that I am capable of doing whatever it takes to get my A. Pulling up my grades is a lot easier when I have the support of people who already know me and like me, and want me to do well. I feel like at UT, some of the freshman courses I was in were designed to “weed out” science majors who weren’t really suited to be science majors, and in that respect the professors weren’t super compassionate about individual students.
So I’ll be cracking the books for the next two weeks . . . the library is going to be my new home.
Check out our lovely library at http://www.library.tulane.edu/!
But right now I got other stuff to do. Studying . . . I can just do that later, right? =)
Until finals.
Now I won’t lie to you and say that I’m an unusual student, and that most kids are on top of things. I’d say the overwhelming majority of college students, especially freshman, save their studying to the very last minute. In this case, its the two last weeks of classes. Everyone then starts struggling to yank up those grades in the final few days before exams, because of course, no one wants their entire fate to depend on final exams. Final exams tend to be way too stressful to do that.
Last semester at UT, I was doing the same exact thing–studying like crazy the last few weeks of school. But at UT, I had to approach my professors and TAs to ask for help where I needed it. I had to convince them that I was indeed a hardworking student. Most of them didn’t know me at all . . . .some didn’t even know my name. When I applied to UT last year, I thought I wanted to go to a HUGE school to be a part of that vast network. Now I’m starting to realize the advantages of a smaller school.
As of now, I have a B in chem lab and in chemistry. My chemistry TA I see every week in Bruff, and sometimes we eat together. My chemistry professor is a Senior Fellow for Wall Residential College of which I am the president. Both of these people know me well enough to realize that I am capable of doing whatever it takes to get my A. Pulling up my grades is a lot easier when I have the support of people who already know me and like me, and want me to do well. I feel like at UT, some of the freshman courses I was in were designed to “weed out” science majors who weren’t really suited to be science majors, and in that respect the professors weren’t super compassionate about individual students.
So I’ll be cracking the books for the next two weeks . . . the library is going to be my new home.Check out our lovely library at http://www.library.tulane.edu/!
But right now I got other stuff to do. Studying . . . I can just do that later, right? =)
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Homecoming
Whoever said home is where the heart is was definitely right. Coming home for me is like a purging of all the things I have to do and places I have to be . . . . . its freedom all over again.<<(In my living room in my house in Friendswood, Texas )
I noticed it today while driving on the streets of my small town of Friendswood, Texas. The town is small and there’s literally nothing to do here. It’s very southern, conservative and certainly not the most exciting place, but its a place I call home. I’ve lived a lot of places, but this is where my roots have been for the past ten years.
Today my best friend and I went to our old haunts–super target, the mall, Starbucks, etc. We had a ball doing all those things we did to relieve our boredom during long Texas summers. We always got tired of shopping and hanging out at Target and Walmart and driving around in search of entertainment but today we didn’t mind.
I guess our lives are so busy now in college that sometimes its a great feeling to just chill.Today we shopped for a dress for various semiformals I have to attend. It was like our usual routine but this time it had a purpose. So even when we weren’t really doing anything productive we still had a goal!
New Orleans is a great city, but going to Tulane definitely is not like living in a small southern town. It’s a big city, and full of adventures just waiting to happen between Bourbon street, the French Quarter and off campus night scenes. Here in Friendswood, you have to dig for it. Spending a day at the town mall is kind of exciting as it gets!
Homecoming–its the periodic trip back home to a boring place where you are more than happy to dig a little!
Friday, April 14, 2006
Airport Fun
So here I am, sitting in New Orleans International Aiport, contemplating life itself.
Ok not really. What I am doing is downloading music, talking to people online, and of course, writing this blog.
My plans were: read for anthropology, read for english, and review my notes for genetics. And here I am, doing everything but. I think its because studying is just so boring that any distraction ultimately finds a way to supersede the pressing homework I have. I’m on my way to Houston, and as I sit here contemplating, I realize that this life is slowly coming to an end.
At Tulane, most of my friends are freshmen, meaning that the second they can go home, they usually do. I too am one of them . . this will be my third trip to Houston this semester alone. I usually use these trips to stock up on food, medicine, and any other essentials that I’m too lazy to pursue in New Orleans. These are the trips for haircuts and waxing, shopping and eating “real” food, and of course, enjoying the spoils of one’s parents as though one is a hero returned from war. I definitely fit this freshman mold–I love going home and realizing I have a fridge just stocked with food and that if I don’t want any of it, my mother is more than willing to take me to one of my favorite restaurants. I just spoke to one of my friends who proceeded to inform me that he was on a mountain skiing with his father and he couldn’t talk because reception is bad on mountains. And he has been home for not even 24 hours! It’s a pretty sweet life, really.
But what I also realize as I’m sitting here is that this life definitely has its end. Upperclassmen I know don’t go home at every chance. Why? They start establishing various ties in the community that keep them there. Jobs, friends, and studies start to eat away at this war hero existence we all crave. Eventually we realize that the most important part of these trips home is maintaining relationships with the people there, and if the relationship isn’t superficial then that will happen no matter how often we return. Many of our high school friends we stop seeing, and the ones that matter are there regardless of that fact. My best friend will be picking me up from the airport today and its bittersweet. From spending all our free time together, now we see each other every few months if we happen to have the chance.
(Eman and me being models! What a way to end my high school world. ) >>
Ok not really. What I am doing is downloading music, talking to people online, and of course, writing this blog.
My plans were: read for anthropology, read for english, and review my notes for genetics. And here I am, doing everything but. I think its because studying is just so boring that any distraction ultimately finds a way to supersede the pressing homework I have. I’m on my way to Houston, and as I sit here contemplating, I realize that this life is slowly coming to an end.
At Tulane, most of my friends are freshmen, meaning that the second they can go home, they usually do. I too am one of them . . this will be my third trip to Houston this semester alone. I usually use these trips to stock up on food, medicine, and any other essentials that I’m too lazy to pursue in New Orleans. These are the trips for haircuts and waxing, shopping and eating “real” food, and of course, enjoying the spoils of one’s parents as though one is a hero returned from war. I definitely fit this freshman mold–I love going home and realizing I have a fridge just stocked with food and that if I don’t want any of it, my mother is more than willing to take me to one of my favorite restaurants. I just spoke to one of my friends who proceeded to inform me that he was on a mountain skiing with his father and he couldn’t talk because reception is bad on mountains. And he has been home for not even 24 hours! It’s a pretty sweet life, really.
But what I also realize as I’m sitting here is that this life definitely has its end. Upperclassmen I know don’t go home at every chance. Why? They start establishing various ties in the community that keep them there. Jobs, friends, and studies start to eat away at this war hero existence we all crave. Eventually we realize that the most important part of these trips home is maintaining relationships with the people there, and if the relationship isn’t superficial then that will happen no matter how often we return. Many of our high school friends we stop seeing, and the ones that matter are there regardless of that fact. My best friend will be picking me up from the airport today and its bittersweet. From spending all our free time together, now we see each other every few months if we happen to have the chance.(Eman and me being models! What a way to end my high school world. ) >>
Monday, April 10, 2006
Masala 2006
So Masala was yesterday. What is Masala, many of you may ask? It’s a big dance program which showcases types of Indian dancing and culture at the end of the year. We had several Bollywood dances, a garba/raas (that was our dance), several solos, traditional Bharat Natyam dancing, and a very cheesy skit plus corny emcees.
I ended up with a painful back injury, sores on both feet, and an extreme dislike towards all forms of Indian dancing. Cool, right?
At the very last minute, I was pulled into a dance for the Masala program that India Assoc. at Tulane puts on annually. Since I’m on the board, it was not only my obligation but actually my duty to jump in as a backup dancer. Unfortunately, that meant I was learning this dance in two days, practicing non stop, and making a hurt back even worse.
But the results were amazing. I know I missed a lot of steps, but people said we looked good on stage. All the dances were great . . . . . it was such a transition from dress rehersal when nothing quite came together. The most amazing part was the dancers themselves . . . India Association’s program but many of the dancers weren’t even Indian. There were lots of members of IATU participating that were not of Indian background, and lots more observing. It just proved the point that though Tulane is no NYC in terms of diversity, there is definitely diversity and cultural awareness here.
It was a lot of fun, overall. There were so many people there for dinner who congratulated us on our dancing success. I even saw one of my chemistry TAs, and let me tell you–that was one of my favorite experiences this year.
Tulane does diversity New Orleans style . . . . . . slow n easy, but its definitely there.
Jacob and me being too cool
Our dance troupe- me, Chandni, Puja, Jennie, Rita, Roshni
Doing the Raas
Me pretending that I know what I’m doing . . . .
Look at Chandni smiling while I struggle to remember the next step!
I ended up with a painful back injury, sores on both feet, and an extreme dislike towards all forms of Indian dancing. Cool, right?
At the very last minute, I was pulled into a dance for the Masala program that India Assoc. at Tulane puts on annually. Since I’m on the board, it was not only my obligation but actually my duty to jump in as a backup dancer. Unfortunately, that meant I was learning this dance in two days, practicing non stop, and making a hurt back even worse.
But the results were amazing. I know I missed a lot of steps, but people said we looked good on stage. All the dances were great . . . . . it was such a transition from dress rehersal when nothing quite came together. The most amazing part was the dancers themselves . . . India Association’s program but many of the dancers weren’t even Indian. There were lots of members of IATU participating that were not of Indian background, and lots more observing. It just proved the point that though Tulane is no NYC in terms of diversity, there is definitely diversity and cultural awareness here.
It was a lot of fun, overall. There were so many people there for dinner who congratulated us on our dancing success. I even saw one of my chemistry TAs, and let me tell you–that was one of my favorite experiences this year.
Tulane does diversity New Orleans style . . . . . . slow n easy, but its definitely there.
Jacob and me being too cool
Our dance troupe- me, Chandni, Puja, Jennie, Rita, Roshni
Doing the Raas
Me pretending that I know what I’m doing . . . .
Look at Chandni smiling while I struggle to remember the next step!
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