My Seventh Week in India

Hey readers, I’d like to preface by saying that in this week’s column, I aim to address the impact of international exchange, and how truly tiny such person-to-person ties can make this great green Earth. If at any point in reading this you feel that hosting an exchange student is something you or someone you know would be interested in, I’ll refer you to my closing paragraph, where I’ve included a point of contact that handles hosting in our area. With that stated, it’s on with the show!

Six years ago, Deepanshu and I met at the World Peace Day 5K which was put on by the Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS). My mom was only a year or two into her role as Local Coordinator, yet my family had already hosted four students by that time. Deepanshu and I hit it off then, even for my being a middle-schooler and his being in high school. We saw each other just that once, at a park in Des Moines and yet six years later, here we are, together in Delhi.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve been blown away by my connections thanks to exchange. The program that has sent all my siblings (nine and counting) from other countries to the U.S., known as Youth Exchange and Study, or YES, was founded by Congress in 2002 as a scholarship under the U.S. Department of State. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, or ECA, took this program, like many others, under its wing, and in the 20+ years that the YES program has existed, over 15,000 students from more than 50 countries have spent a year living with a host family, attending a host school, and engaging with a host community in the U.S. The inverse of this program, known as YES Abroad, is what sent me to Malaysia two years ago, and so of course I have stories galore about the crazy connections these programs forge.

When I got the news that I was heading to Delhi for the summer, my mom said I should meet up with Deepanshu for a chat. As one of the kids my mom coordinated for, she had been keeping tabs on Deepanshu's studies, and had told me on multiple occasions that he reminded her of me. Multiple majors in and around political science / global development and an aspiration for foreign service proves those points still true. With such similar interests and all, it was sure to be a great time. Coincidentally, by the time I went to reach out to Deepanshu, he had already reached out to me about getting together sometime during my two months here.

Yesterday, that meetup happened. We went to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President's residence, which is genuinely one of the most beautiful government buildings I’ve ever been inside. We spent a few hours at the National Museum of India, where a friend of Deepanshu’s met us (a fellow history nerd), and we spent the time figuring out who had the most interesting fun facts. Deepanshu and I stopped by Agrasen Ki Baoli, an ancient step well, said to be over 5,000 years old. We even visited a Sikh temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, which was the first time I’d ever witnessed Sikhism up close. Aside from the sight-seeing, we caught up, chatting and laughing like old friends. I came to find out that he, too, was an alumni of the World Food Prize’s Youth Programs and Global Youth Institute. Yet another string that tied us together as we continued our conversation over Indian fast food. It was as if no time had passed at all.

After our day together, we exchanged gifts. I had a hand-sewn Iowa potholder for Deepanshu, whereas he had a signed copy of an incredible book on Indian history I’d been eying for quite some time. I don’t know how he knew that that was genuinely the most fitting gift for me, but either way, it was perfect.

I tell this story to detail the true impact of scholarship exchange programs like YES. The people-to-people ties these kinds of opportunities forge know no concept of erosion due to time or distance. These bonds are truly the most exemplary part of what makes international exchange so impactful. The fact that I can go to a country I've never been to before and be received with the most complete and fulfilling sense of welcome goes to show that exchange lasts a lifetime, not just one year.

If you’d like to learn more about hosting an exchange student yourself, opening the doors of your home to the world and inviting in this kind of incredible connection, feel free to reach out to alexis@iris-center.org.

Thanks for reading. T-minus one week left in India for me now.