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Fall At Union

At 6:30 AM, the plane landed in Chicago, O’hare International Airport marking the beginning of my journey all alone to the United States Of America. My American dream had officially begun. I was extremely intimidated and at the same time, I was excited too as this was the first time I was going to do something completely independent, without the support of my family and friends. I kept reminding myself that from the time I landed in this foreign land which was continents away from the cosy, close-knit and loving home that I grew up in, I had no other choice but to be brave and resilient enough to face what the future will hold for me for the upcoming years. 

I had a warm welcome from the orientation leaders who took us to campus and I was in awe when I first saw the majestic Nott Memorial, it was more beautiful than I thought it would be and loved how it was glowing, I could have stared at it the whole night. As I was an international student, we had a week-long orientation before classes began and the orientation week was one of my best weeks here, I finally got to meet all those people who I had only met virtually. I learnt so much about the culture of other countries which included Brazil, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and Bangladesh and all about other states in the USA from where the domestic students came. We did a lot of fun activities during orientation and the one which I loved the most was the “Resources Tour”, it was designed to familiarise us with the resources that the college had to offer. I liked the career centre’s presentation the most, the staff there seemed to be extremely well-known, enthusiastic and eager to help all students. I also appreciated the vast amount of resources that they had to offer, which included resumes, cover letters and networking guides and drop-in hours for students that were designed for students who needed advice. 

The 10-week term was fast-paced and as the first day began I felt like it was impossible to manage everything together. I began overthinking if I had made the correct decision about choosing a college far away from home and if I would be able to manage everything all by myself without help. But now I knew, I had no option but to go with the flow. I had made an agenda back home and one of my goals was to have an exciting fall term, and after it is over I would feel proud of myself for adjusting to this brand-new environment. Other than academics, I got involved with many extracurriculars while I took up certain activities that aligned with my interests like writing for the student newspaper and getting involved with the Model United Nations Club, I also got actively involved in theatre and dance. I was initially hesitant to take part as I had enormous stage fear. But Union’s theatre and dance department provided a perfect platform for me to get over my fear. 

Now that I look back at the past four months, I can say that even though I had my ups and downs, I am proud that I persevered. Fall Term has definitely been memorable for me, especially due to all the support I received from all the wonderful people here on campus and in the town and most importantly from my family back home. I have learnt to be there for myself and  I am excited to explore and expand my horizons in the coming year.  My first fall taught me a valuable lesson and that is to not lose hope, as the best is yet to come.

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POST EXAM VIBES

Recently my ISC exams finished.  That sentence is enough to bring a wave of relief down my spine but when after the wave has passed then I get to real thinking. After a few minutes of peace, I realize that I have nothing to do, academic-wise. 

Technically, I still do have to start studying a few months after I reach college but I feel a void in me. It really hit hard when I realised that I will never be going back to my 15-year-old school as a student anymore, I did not really get the feeling when I was inside the building but as I stepped out there it was!

I have gotten so used to always “doing something” that it feels weird not to work on something which has a deadline. Now it’s all doing it by your will and to be honest to me it seems more frightening to me as the consequences are larger. For example, if one does poor in their examinations it is totally their fault but it is a given, we had to pass that barrier and due to unforeseen circumstances, an individual may have failed to achieve his or her expectations. But there can be ways by which he or she can improve that, however, when you do something of you your own there is less chance for that as then people are less sympathetic and at times there is no option but to start completely over.  Like when you start a new business venture and the business does not sustain for some reason. 

But I guess that is the real world the tougher it is the tougher we become, we have no choice but to overcome the challenges that are thrown upon us. 

I am trying to get used to it.  Here’s to new beginnings!

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THREE LIFE LESSONS FROM THE TEMPEST, BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare was truly one of the most influential men of the 17th century. His plays, tragedies, and comedies are an inspiration to us to date. 

Today I bring the three life lessons that I learned from The Tempest, which is one of the last plays by Shakespeare. It is also considered Shakespeare’s most “magical work”. 

Here they are-

First,  Never betray the ones who try to help you. This is in reference to Caliban who was half-human and monster and the only son of the witch Sycorax. Caliban was never loyal to Prospero, his master. Prospero gave Caliban a second life, educated him, fed him and also took care of him but Caliban did not seem to appreciate any of these. Instead, he always plotted to harm Prospero and thwart his missions. However Prospero never punished Caliban but when Caliban crossed all limits by trying to kill him with the help of Stephano and Trinculo, he had enough. 

He punished Caliban extremely harshly which had a life-long impact on him. From this, we all learn not to trouble good people to such an extent that they forget their kindness and empathy. 

Second, Always respect the work people do to help you. 

One of my favourite bonds in the play is that of Prospero and Ariel. Although Ariel was Prospero’s slave he never treated her like one. Prospero always made sure to acknowledge and appreciate Ariel and had also promised to set her free after his mission was completed. His mission would be incomplete if Ariel did not help him execute it.  

Prospero’s constant care and love towards Ariel made her the most loyal servant to Prospero. 

Third, Always prefer your reason over retaliation. Prospero’s change of heart at the end of the play is an example of a selfless good deed that will be remembered by all. 

If Prospero wanted he could have killed or imprisoned  King Alonso and his men but decided to drop his plan as he did not want to cause any more trouble in their lives. He choose kindness and partly it was because of his daughter as she was all set to be the Queen Of Naples as the daughter-in-law of Alonso. Prospero even being wronged terribly did not forget to take back what he deserved, this is what I admired the most about him.

 He forgave his treacherous brother Antonio and his accomplice Sebastian but he also took back what was rightfully his, the dukedom of Milan. 

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Intuition – One Of My Unusual Abilities! & How Has It Benefitted Me Over The Years.

“Intuition is the whisper of the soul” and I have this unusual capability of intuitive thinking.  This ability has helped me in various ways-  the most important one being decision making. In an unfamiliar and complex situation, I am able to make decisions promptly and effectively, thanks to this capability. 

 In the due course of years, I have noticed that my intuition on several things has turned out to be correct -for example in my high school years I had auditioned for two clubs – photography and dance. The photography club auditions were more competitive as there were many candidates but there were not as many candidates for the dance club. My intuition told me that I will make it to the photography club but my chances for dance class was bleak. As expected, my intuition proved me right and I got selected in the former. This thought that I considered being my intuition could have been that my passion for photography was more than that of dance, therefore somehow my subconscious mind propelled me to think positively about it and maybe that’s the reason my intuition turned out to be correct. You get what your heart truly desires and so I feel if intuitively I think positively about something it is because my heart wants it bad and so I put in my full effort to acquire it. 

Relying on my intuition has helped me to be more open to ideas as I feel that my rational mind that mostly relies on logic is limited at times.  Intuition on the other hand allows me to recognize new and exciting opportunities. I have often felt that my intuition has helped me recognize the things that I actually desire to do- those dreams that have a true connection with myself and my core values as well as tat times those are the dreams that I am afraid of pursuing. 

Other than helping me identify my wants, it has also acted as a cautionary element and to a certain extent has allowed me to read people if not 100% accurately but at least to a certain extent.  Recently during my summer holidays last year, I decided to pursue an internship to strengthen my work experience. I gave an interview for a student-based organisation, while the organisation spoke a lot of being charitable and being in community service, yet the body language of the interviewer made me think that this may not be the right place and true on deeper research I found out that this was one of the fake NGOs with no genuine work being done. 

Overall, intuitive thinking has given me access to deeper intelligence and wisdom and it has been a positive factor in my life.  However, I am aware that intuition has its limits and cannot be always correct and that is why I apply my intuition that complements my rational decision-making process. This lets me explore both my instinct and tactical thinking.

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Interview Regarding Mental Health with “A Gen Z’s TAKE “

Gen Z’s Take is a student-led organization and its purpose is to create a safe space where the modern youth can educate themselves on prevalent issues occurring in today’s world through reading interviews.

I spoke about my passion for helping others with their mental and physical well-being, how my hobbies have influenced me, the blogs I recommend and a few of my personal icons are and my advice for those who may be struggling.

It’s All In The Mind

-Shriya Biswas

Please keep on reading & let me know your feedback.

1. It’s lovely to speak with you, Shriya! You are a blogger and writer (Girl With Dreamy Eyes) https://girlwithdreamyeyes.com/ from Kolkata, India. Why did you start your blog and what topics does it cover?
Hi, same here! I started my blog to reach millions of people who use the internet and give them an idea about my life and other than that I also started it to build rapport with people and learn new things and through writing, I get an idea about what people like to read and it has helped me to stretch my creativity. I usually write about movie and book reviews, travel, food reviews, and personal experiences.

2. In reaching out to us, you’d said, “I have an intense enthusiasm about uplifting others [as well as] mental and physical health.” How do you help others with their well-being? Do you have any go-to advice for those who may be struggling?
I firmly believe in the sentence “ Now or never”. I feel that if we do not help others and motivate them to gain a perspective in life NOW, we will continue to stay in the same place. I have helped various people, mostly my classmates during their grievances and academic problems. I have offered my time to them, heard their problems and most importantly offered kindness more proactively. In the hullabaloo of today’s world, people require a little time and compassion from others and I have made sure that whenever I am helping a fellow person, I try to connect with them and make them feel better about themselves by highlighting their achievements and helping them to be active. My go-to advice for someone who is struggling will be to “always be on the run”, as when your mind is occupied you will always be motivated to better your life. It’s all in the mind, and I believe that if you can conquer your fears from within you will be able to move forward.

3. Which blogs besides your own do you recommend? 
The blogs that I recommend are: 
https://cupofjo.com/
https://advicefromatwentysomething.com/about/

4. How have your passions and hobbies such as photography, Model-UN, theatre and horseback riding influenced you?
My diverse extracurricular activities have played a crucial role in my school years, made me a self-reliant and determined individual and a more well-rounded individual, and helped me improve my communication and organisation skills.

5. Who is your main support system? Who are your personal icons and role models?
The main support system in my life is ultimately myself. Even though my family, especially my mother, has played a pivotal role in my life, I believe that it has been me who has always assured myself in the ups and downs of life that I will be able to make it. The role model in my life is Elizabeth Cady Stanton, her fearlessness during the women’s suffrage movement has always amazed me. I aspire to be a changemaker just like her who not only brings a change to the world but also motivates thousands of people to change their perspectives.

6. Is there anything else you’d like to share? I’d love to thank you for speaking with us, and take care!
I enjoyed answering these questions and it is a great pleasure that your organisation considered me for the interview. I wish you all the best!

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4 Ways Why A Community-Based Environment Has More Value Than An Individual-centred Environment.

  • The most effective learning environment for me has always been participatory and community-centred.
    Such an environment helps us to be interactive and bond with our peers.

  • It helps to adapt to knowledge in a creative way that is also inclusive of diverse viewpoints and not only rotelearn from a single person.
  • In such an environment one is not afraid of taking risks and making mistakes as mostimportantly it allows one to be oneself.
  • By being a part of community-based learning that has allows one to improve one’s intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.
  • It motivates one out of one’s comfort zone and has allows him/her to be a better version of themselves. 

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“Pandemic Years – A Students Perspective”

“IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES“

Quoting from the book “Tale Of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens”


ONLINE CLASSES AND ALL
More than the pandemic we students are irritated with online classes. Earlier on campus, we had the chance to meet our friends and enjoy the two breaks with them but now that opportunity is not there with us anymore. All we have to do now is stay confined to the four walls of our house and stare at our laptop screens for six hours each day. This is indeed a tedious task for us students! One thing that came to my mind recently is that the hypocrisy that we students have to deal with! Earlier we were always advised by our mentors, institutions, parents to stay away from gadgets and now the same people ask us to stare at the screens and do our online classes properly. We also do not have any option but to do as we are told as after all we need that “attendance”.
These are some of the things that I dislike about online classes but over time I have understood that these are not major issues to get upset about. After all, life is unfair to all and unexpected situations and occurrences are a rule of life. 2 years ago I had never imagined that I will be leading such a sedentary lifestyle and will be missing the best two years of my life. But after all, it is what it is. This has angered me many times also and I have asked myself that Why Me? I get no answer except that we have to accommodate and adjust ourselves keeping the situation in mind.


DEALING WITH THE SITUATION
I was a Class 10 student back in 2020 and was diligently practising topography when I suddenly hear my sister shouting at the top of her lungs and telling “Exams will not happen” in Bengali. Initially, I ignored her and concentrated on my topography as the only thought that I had in my mind at that time was to get a 95% in Geography the next day.
After a while when I saw the news for myself, I realised that she was not lying. A string of negative thoughts started to do rounds in my mind and to add more to my problems, I am a complete overthinker. I finally calmed down when we received the official announcement that the exams will be held later. I was extremely frustrated at this as I had planned my next few months and due to the pandemic and lockdown, everything went haywire.
After I few months, I eventually started to adjust to the “quarantine lifestyle”. I told myself that “just a few months more and then we will be free to live our normal lives again”. But that did not happen, as usual, the lockdown was extended and our exams were cancelled. At that time I felt extremely demotivated as all my hard work went to waste.
However, after a few months of I guess I would say “mourning”, I decided to see the positive side of the situation. I saw the countless efforts of our school trying to make our classes and extracurricular activities interesting for us, the efforts of our teachers including some of them who were not familiar with technology trying their best to teach us. As I always like to believe that every situation has its merits and demerits and the quarantine times allowed us to spend time with ourselves and our loved ones. In the hassle of our monotonous regular lives, we forget to cherish what we have and the pandemic situation surely gave us this opportunity. Beyond human life, there exists a force that regulates everything, I have always believed in that and I feel that the questions to it will always be unanswered. We cannot know everything in one life, can we? We, humans, spend most of our time thinking about the future and I guess that this unknown force decided to give us the chance to cherish our present. It decided to show our power as the human race and how we have the power to defeat something as deadly as the pandemic if we are united. The cooperation from all the countries during the pandemic in finding solutions to combat it has given me the hope that “world peace” is still possible.
Thus, I would conclude by stating that unpredictable things and situations are bound to happen, but we as humans must keep on inspiring and cooperating with each other keeping in mind that “this shall too pass”

Students have the most complicated lives according to me. We are expected to adjust to everything. Why? Are we not expected to lead our lives on our own terms?
As students, we already face a large number of restrictions and those have increased even more now due to the pandemic.

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“Women who leave their jobs are often forced to do so.” Discuss

I came across the above intriguing prompt in Social Media today and I decided to give my opinion on this in few words.
In a world where everyone strives to survive, women face the maximum number of difficulties. The main reason being the unreasonable expectations that our society puts forward for all the women. I have noticed that a woman in our society is manipulated to please others from the beginning of her life, first in her maternal home she is expected to please her family members by getting married to a groom of their choice , after that in her in-laws house she is expected to please those family members by bearing a child and then she is expected to give up her career for the sake of her children. There is never an end to this vicious cycle.
These are some of ways how women are coerced into leaving their jobs in an urban household. In most Indian households, people pretend to be liberal but in real they are a staunch believer of patriarchy. These people indirectly in a passive aggressive way try to prevent women from working. Emotional blackmail plays a significant role here. This creates a virtual pressure on women and gets them thinking about leaving their jobs for the betterment of their families. However at their subconscious mind they know that they can balance both but the emotional pressure from her own family members become a barrier and thus, they end of leaving their jobs.

I strongly believe that women are the most headstrong people and they can achieve what they set their mind to and no one can force her to do anything. However, there exists an emotional aspect in all her decisions and while doing anything she considers the implications of her decisions. Then to add fuel to the fire , there exists people like I mentioned above.
Thus, by stating these facts I emphasise the fact that how indirectly women are forced to leave their jobs.

However, there exist another type of women who simply bow down to what they are told. I consider these women to be staunch believers of patriarchy too, it is because they are letting it prevail. I simply do not understand that how these women , some of them being well educated let other people force them to sacrifice their career.
Thus I would like to conclude by saying that ,it is high time that women stand up for themselves and stop sacrificing their happiness for other people.

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JULY- THE CRAZY MONTH!

Sometimes we end up doing things that we never expected. In the month of July 2021, I did end up doing a few things which seemed impossible to me till the last moment. 

Model United Nations i.e. MUN was an extremely complicated thing to me till the month of June. However, I still decided to give it a try. I tried out my first MUN in the end of June,  but I remained confused about some facts. I decided not to give up until I learnt everything about MUN’s.  

I took part in my second MUN which was the CISMUN organized by the Calcutta International School, Kolkata.  I was a part of the IPC Committee and represented American television program host, Rachel Maddow. I felt that it was one of the most cooperative committee with minimal arguments and disputes. Although we had to cover committees of the conference and submit our reviews by 9pm, it did become a bit tiring, but I enjoyed it to the fullest. While covering various committees in the three-day MUN, I learnt in depth about the issues that they were covering. I got to know about the South China Sea issue and the various roles played by the countries in the dispute, the treatment of refugees in various countries and the responses of the other countries. The IPC Committee also conducted a press conference where the delegates of the IPC  committee had to ask questions to the delegates of the committee that they had covered. Questions had to be asked based on the delegates speech in the moderated caucus or GSL (General Speaker’s List).  We then had to submit a feature, and 2 opinion-based articles and while writing it gave me a new insight about a lot of things . Our IPC Committee also had a debate on the agenda “Freedom Of Press” , I personally loved being a part of it and really enjoyed the heated discussion that took place between all the delegates. After a three-day tedious and fun committee, I bagged a special mention in my committee and that sure motivated me to continue MUN’S for rest of the month.

Next, I represented my school , Modern High School For Girls at the JACO MUN organised by the St James School , Kolkata.  I had a slight disadvantage in this MUN as I did not get allotted to the committee I preferred and got a short span of time to prepare. However, that was not really a problem as I aimed to give my best.  I was allotted to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the representative of Croatia.  We discussed the trade routes facilitating drugs, the drug cartels, dark web, etc.  It was a  9 hour long and competitive committee which also included paperwork 😊 . I gave my best in the committee but some of the other representatives could perform better and thus they placed. I was a bit disappointed but at the same time I also learnt a lot of new things about drugs and its distribution.

After not winning in the JACO MUN , I was a bit disappointed as I mentioned earlier but I decided to fill that up by participating in one last MUN of the month. I came across Team Credencia which is based in Delhi. They organised there first edition MUN in which I participated in the United Nations Commission For Women Committee as the representative of Germany. We discussed on the agenda of Objectification Of Women. For this MUN I had only forty-eight hours to prepare for the agenda as I faced a committee change. However, the topic was very compatible, and I managed to come up with a good amount of research. This committee also had a good number of competitive delegates but I also did not leave any stone unturned this time and rectified quite a lot of previous mistakes that I made in the last MUN.  I know I might be sounding like a person who is filled with vanity now but I really thought that I gave my best performance in this MUN. I could notice a distinct change in my paperwork skills, debate , lobbying and last but not the least POI’s. We had an intense session about the economic and psychological impact of the objectification of women, the trivialisation of workplace objectification and its role in the entertainment industry and the personal health impact of objectification. All the topics gave me a new outlook to the agenda and I enjoyed every bit of it.  After a 10-hour long session finally, I won the third best delegate award in the committee.  Although , I was delighted on receiving the award but I learnt a lot from this committee as it provided me a new perspective and solutions of the problems we as women face almost regularly.

Thus, I conclude that the month of July was very useful and insightful and it was a total              “ MUN” craze month! I look forward to such months again where I am a part of such resourceful and nerve breaking discussions which require more importance. 

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3 CHARACTERS WHO EVOLVED BEYOND EXPECTATIONS ACCORDING TO ME!

  1. Lucrecia ( LU) Montesinos Hendrich – Lucrecia is one of the main characters of Spanish thriller series “Elite”. She featured in the first three seasons of the series and the role is essayed by Mexican actress and singer,  Danna Paola. Lucrecia initially was never a likeable character; she was a typical rich snob who had no emotions and always used to berate other people. However, what I loved the most about the character is its growth and evolvement. She has shown immense maturity later in the later episodes. She did do a lot of cruel things, but she was also given a lot of pain by the people she loved.  From an arrogant girl to a girl with immense respect for everything was not an easy journey.
Danna Paola as Lucrecia Hendrich

2. Justin Foley– Justin is one of the main characters of the American Teen Drama series “13 Reasons Why”.   The character is essayed by American actor Brandon Flynn.  We can all agree that we developed a bit of discontent towards Justin in the first season for not protecting both Hannah and Jessica. Justin always saw the wrong but was not brave enough to protest it. But he started to protest towards the end of Season 1 and that is when the evolvement of his character began. He always stood up for his friends in difficult times and tried to support them in every possible way. He fought against addiction, abuse and made some great friends and formed some unbreakable bonds throughout the series. I feel that Justin had come a long way from what he was in the beginning and he deserved much better than what he got.

Brandon Flynn as Justin Foley

3. Tully Hart– Tully is the main character of the American Drama Series “Firefly Lane”. Tully Hart is portrayed by American Actress Katherine Heigl and her younger counterparts are portrayed by Alissa Skyovbye. Tully initially was a girl who had a tough exterior and interior. She didn’t have compassion or empathy as she never received her mother’s love and was brought up all alone since her childhood. But as she grew up it’s shown that she was eager to fill in the void of love inside her, she did make a lot of mistakes and took ample wrong decisions but that is what shaped Tully as a character. From not caring for anyone to having the constant fear of losing her only best friend and loved ones brought a new dynamic to her character.  Later on, she realises that even after being so rich and powerful she lacked love and compassion in her life. Tully Hart represents all those people who try to learn from their mistakes and evolve and change as human being only to realise it’s too late.  All we can do now is wait for season 2 to see if Tully has changed completely or not, Will She?

Alissa Skyovbye as Young Tully Hart
Katherine Heigl as Older Tully Hart