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A Letter from An International Student

“It’s like home for me.”, said a girl smiling wide as she led me and my small group to the COG. Little did I know then that my first year at Gonzaga was just the beginning of a great journey! All I knew was that I was miles away from home and apprehensive about things like living alone. Spokane’s beautiful vibe hit me when I saw it for the first time. Since I come from a metropolitan city, the calm air and the good vibes it gave me were euphoric.

Apprehensive at first for joining Gonzaga, as an international student hailing from India – the land of huge diversity of cultures, religions, and languages, I carry the experience of eastern virtuosity with an open mind to learn from Catholic morality. Indian societies are intermix of varied hues cultural values, thriving under the dictum of unity in diversity and tied to the ethos of universal brotherhood. Gonzaga enshrines Catholic values with Christian morality, inquisitive about alien cultural ethos, offering a theater for promotion for diversity to bring out best of brains across international communities with qualities of inclusive development.

I realized college was actually challenging when I found myself crying in the middle of the night and missed mum. She was just a call away but accepting that she was miles away was another thing in itself. “It’ll happen. But you’d grow with it.” – That’s what a Zag had said. I kept myself focused on what my parents had always wanted me to do, to pursue my dreams. From helpful professors to an affable learning environment, Gonzaga gradually started filling my life, giving me everything I needed to feel welcome. I made great friends who valued the element of difference I brought, and able professors who were an immense source of support during my first year of study.

Professors at Gonzaga don’t just limit their focus on your academic progress but, are supportive and curious about the methods of learning you apply to imbibe and learn. To me, college has been an experience that facilitates development of a better self….mentally, socially and spiritually. And that is exactly what the Gonzaga idea is behind education. Gradually, as the year went by, while I was running around taking early morning classes and enjoying the transformed dynamics of my life, my parents were realizing that I had become an independent and stronger individual telling me they were proud of what I was becoming, that’s something I cherished!

There would be times when I would feel like talking to someone about some things and not holding my thoughts in. There came in my friends and so did the CGE staff at GU, they just made it so good! I can count on the staff to help me with anything that concerns my education in this institution and more. It’s your first year that would make you realize that though college appears hard, the support system Gonzaga eventually becomes is what would make it all feel priceless. The best thing I find about Gonzaga is the way it promotes expression. One can find several avenues that arouse great interest! The basketball season is immense fun with friends and the campus is a hub of great vibes in this cozy place.

As I approach the end of my first year, I can’t believe how much one can achieve in such a short time, and how broader my outlook has become, with myself as more of a global citizen in the making! So let the Zag in you shine bright through these years ahead. If you ever need a guide, remember your fellow Zags have got your back!

Shreya Shukla is now a sophomore at Gonzaga majoring in Computer Engineering.

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