I just got back from one of my most successful- and strangest- interviews yet. I contacted an administrator at the Harakama College of Education and asked if there were any female professors I could speak with for my project. She said I could come in today (Tuesday) at 10:00am. I didn't ask many questions and did not know if it would turn out to be helpful or not. When I walked into main office, the administrator whisked me away into an room down the hall and brought in 6 lively female professors. They were all really interesting people with many different perspectives. A few were married, one was engaged, and one was single. Of the married ones, two had "love-marriages." They all had their Master's degrees in subjects ranging from Indian History to Commerce. They came from different parts of Sikkim were all interested in what I had to say too, which felt good. I asked them each question one-by-one and each of them gave some really insightful answers. When I asked one of the women whether she thought it was necessary to get married, she said she doesn't feel pressured by society to marry because she can financially support herself. However, she said that on a personal level, she wants a companion to share life with. This was the EXACT answer I've been looking for all along!
A half hour later, the principal (man) walked in and asked to take a photo of all of us. I hope it doesn't end up on the wall somewhere with a caption like "American student visits college!" I've taken so many photos during my time here- I can't even imagine where they've ended up.
The principal then asked me if I wanted to interact with some students- and I agreed. I thought, "Great..a new perspective!" He lead me downstairs to another room...that just happened to be filled with 150+ students sitting at their desks in uniforms. We walked in and they ALL stood up. The principal then turned to me and pointed to a chair on stage and said, "Sit." I just stood there for a second- wondering if I had somehow said something that made him think that I agreed to this, but I definitely did not imply ANYthing of the sort. I realized I couldn't back out now, so I just sucked it up and walked on stage and sat in front of the students. It turns out that this "interaction" was actually a Q&A between me and a group of 150 Master's degree students on the American Education System.
I hope I handled it pretty well? I made them laugh a few times- which was weird... They asked me questions about private vs. government funded school systems and how the US system of higher education is different from India's (of which I know NOTHING about.) And somehow, I think I was able to pull out a few statistics about private vs public school tuitions and retention rates. NO idea where that came from....phew.
A half hour later, the principal (man) walked in and asked to take a photo of all of us. I hope it doesn't end up on the wall somewhere with a caption like "American student visits college!" I've taken so many photos during my time here- I can't even imagine where they've ended up.
The principal then asked me if I wanted to interact with some students- and I agreed. I thought, "Great..a new perspective!" He lead me downstairs to another room...that just happened to be filled with 150+ students sitting at their desks in uniforms. We walked in and they ALL stood up. The principal then turned to me and pointed to a chair on stage and said, "Sit." I just stood there for a second- wondering if I had somehow said something that made him think that I agreed to this, but I definitely did not imply ANYthing of the sort. I realized I couldn't back out now, so I just sucked it up and walked on stage and sat in front of the students. It turns out that this "interaction" was actually a Q&A between me and a group of 150 Master's degree students on the American Education System.
I hope I handled it pretty well? I made them laugh a few times- which was weird... They asked me questions about private vs. government funded school systems and how the US system of higher education is different from India's (of which I know NOTHING about.) And somehow, I think I was able to pull out a few statistics about private vs public school tuitions and retention rates. NO idea where that came from....phew.
That must have been quite an experience--"lecturing to 150+ students." From your post, it appears you handled it well. Amazing where statistics come from--aren't our minds incredible!
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