The player is loading ...
April 1, 2024
Engineering Success: Anand Sekar's Global Education Journey - Part 1
Dive into the Leap with Japa podcast as we kick off a three-part series with Anand Sekar, a manufacturing engineer whose journey from India to the U.S. reshapes the narrative of international education. In Part 1, Anand shares his early experiences, ...
Dive into the Leap with Japa podcast as we kick off a three-part series with Anand Sekar, a manufacturing engineer whose journey from India to the U.S. reshapes the narrative of international education. In Part 1, Anand shares his early experiences, from securing scholarships and navigating visa interviews to adjusting to a new culture. His insights are a beacon for students seeking to broaden their horizons through global education. Join us for an episode brimming with actionable advice and the wisdom of lived experience.
For more insights and to support our podcast, check out our affiliate link at the end of the description. Your engagement helps us continue to bring compelling stories and valuable lessons from around the globe.
For more insights and to support our podcast, check out our affiliate link below. This link offers you access to SkillShare Using this link, you gain access to valuable resources and help support "The Leap with Japa" in bringing you more compelling stories and valuable lessons from around the globe.
https://skillshare.eqcm.net/R5dnK7
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TG15z8
(Medical Solar Eclipse Glasses)
- Please note that using this affiliate link may provide us with a small commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support in making "The Leap with Japa" a continued success.
Transcript
Podcast Interview with Anand 0
U1
0:01
Welcome to the Leap with jabber, the podcast that bridges continents and connects stories. Join us as we dive into the vibrant world of international education, explore diverse cultures, and share the extraordinary journeys of students far from home. Whether you're dreaming of studying abroad or already embarking on this adventure through other means. Literature is your companion in navigating the exciting, challenging, and transformative world of global education. Let's leap into today's episode. 12s So welcome. Anand, how are you?
U2
0:49
Hey. I'm good. Good. How are you?
U1
0:51
Yeah. Welcome to the show. So I have Anand here. He's a manufacturing engineer. Uh, lean manufacturing machining engineer with. What's your company name again? It's. GCN.
U2
1:04
Yeah, it's called GCN. Driveline. They have automotive. Aerospace. Uh, they are all over the world like a multinational company. And their headquarters is in Poland. Um, I joined this company eight months ago. Okay. It's it's doing good. They are manufacturing. Uh, I would say like 60% of the world's car have their parts.
U1
1:32
Oh, really?
U2
1:33
Yeah, it's it's big. It's big. Okay. I'm particularly happy because this your background is not a traditional software engineering background, you know, so I like the diversity in the experience. Uh, just to give people a backdrop, Anand reached out to me on a podcast, uh, Facebook group. He was looking to get people to test his application. We'll talk about the application later. Later on. Um, but, you know, and and, um, his last name is. What's your last name? Uh. Unknown speaker. Yeah.
U1
2:06
Is that form or the long form? No, that's that's my name. There's a tag. There's a fun fact I want to tell. So. Yeah, my last name is actually my father's name. Oh,
U2
2:18
okay. So in India, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, where I am from. Yeah. Um, in the 1960s, the the minister of Tamil Nadu, he told not to add the family name because through the family name, people will get to know the caste, what the caste system there
U1
2:39
are. Okay.
U2
2:41
So they started, uh, having the father's name as last name. So that's the history behind it? Yeah.
U1
2:48
So, uh, so I know they also did that in, 1s uh, in Mongolia, where most people don't actually have the they take their father's name instead of the last name. And in the past, I think it was more of a socialist regime kind of thing. I don't know, I don't know why they ask them, but that's actually quite interesting that that you would, that you would do that. So. Oh, so that means your last name can identify your, um, your caste. So things like I know an example is the most people, um, with a sing last name are usually um, of a particular religion. For example, everybody has the same glasses that something. Is that how you mean?
U2
3:33
Yeah. You can see Patel. Singh. Yeah. All these are family names. So would there the last name, you can exactly say which background, which state, which language they speak. Right. Yeah. Okay.
U1
3:48
Oh, okay. That's good to know. Well, welcome. Welcome. And, um, one of the things that I want to start with is, can you tell us about your journey from India, uh, to becoming a grad student in the US? What was, um. 1s Uh, what was that like?
U2
4:04
Sure. So I did my undergrad in India. I did my mechanical engineering. Okay. And after that, I was working in a oil and gas company called Saipem India. Okay. I worked there for a couple of years, and then I joined my dad. My dad has a small scale, uh, manufacturing industry. He's a supplier for Taffy. Yeah. Oh,
U1
4:28
tractor. You've been doing manufacturing for a while. Even as. As a kid?
U2
4:34
Yes. I was growing up, seeing my dad, you know, working in a company, uh, not working, like working with metals.
U1
4:43
Okay, okay. They do a fabrication job, so it's like, uh, complete a job with, like, uh, 25kg. So I, we go to our dad's company. Uh, so I've seen working, and I got interested in this field. Okay. In fact, I wanted to do computer science. Engineering. But then. 2s Uh, undergrad I took the first year, I took computer science. Engineering, but, okay,
U2
5:10
somehow I didn't get that connection. That's not in me. So I switched over to manufacturing engineering. Mechanical engineering.
U1
5:18
Because I know, I know a lot of, uh, Indians study, uh, computer science. You're the. I think you're the second person I've met from India that did mechanical engineering and is working the first person works works in an automotive industry he's working with. I think it's the Chinese, uh, electric car manufacturer. Uh, it's in Santa Clara somewhere. That's that's where he was working. And that's. That was very. I found out very strange. Like, you didn't do computer science. You did mechanical engineering. So you're you're the. So how did you so, so just, you know, let us know. How did you after you completed your, your undergrad. So how did you get into grad school?
U2
6:00
Um. So after that, I was with my dad, and then I thought. 1s I want to go abroad. I want to see other countries. I want to experience the different culture. Right. Um, so I started looking at, okay, where to go, I and I, it's good because my friends was they went to UK, US, Australia to do their masters. And I was wondering, okay, let me also do this and I want to do this right. So I started exploring, uh. 1s I started exploring in my field manufacturing and I found yours has good schools. Okay. UK its one year programme and I don't feel comfortable with that. So I thought okay, us now what? Uh, then I went to a counselling not a counselling. It's like a consulting. Yeah. Consulting agent right. I asked them, hey, what should I do? So they told me, okay, what do you want to do? Uh, okay. They gathered some information, made a list of universities that offer. 1s Then I thought to myself, okay, I don't want to pay the consultants to do this. You know, I want to do my homework. I started looking online, gathered information, then I okay, I finalized 2 or 3 universities. I sent out an application. Okay. And I finally got, I mean, admitted in one of the universities, Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. And that's my journey started.
U1
7:31
Yeah, it's Bradley, a private university or is it a public university?
U2
7:35
It's a private university.
U1
7:37
Okay. Okay. So did you have to do did you have to do any GRE, any TOEFL? Did you have to do any of that?
U2
7:44
Yes. Uh, to apply to the US universities I would say like 90% of the universities expect, uh, GRE. Okay. So, um, maybe a few universities, but GRE. Yeah, it's a must for 90, 90% of the universities. They want to, uh, see the capability of the student before they get admitted. So GRE is kind of like a preliminary process. They they can easily eliminate candidates, you know, if they don't have a good score.
U1
8:14
Okay. So so for Indian, for Indian students and recent grads, would you advise them to use consultants or do you just advise them to, um, to do it by themselves? What is the drawback of doing it by yourself as opposed to doing it with a consultant?
U2
8:31
Um. So first thing I would suggest, do it yourself. The reason is if you go to consultants, uh, first they have a set of universities and they and they will be like, okay, this university go to here, go here, go here. I know people went here. So they just try to focus on some things. Uh. 1s It's good to know the process, but don't give your money to somebody to do what you have to do. You do your homework. It may take some time. Just do your research. Because right now internet, it's everything available for free. All the information. So just do your homework, do the research and whatever courses you want. You can just type in and see what universities offer the course and make shortlist based on so many reviews. You can ask people, you can even directly contact the college and, you know, get some information. So I would say consultants is an easier way to go. But. If you really want to dig, dig deep. I would suggest you now do the homework yourself. Okay.
U1
9:43
So what? How much do these consultants typically take and how many schools did they help you with?
U2
9:50
So they charge based on a number of schools, I guess it's like more than ten, 11 years ago, so I. Okay. I vaguely remember. Okay. But I think they can provide like three schools. More than that, they will charge more. I don't know how much they charge because the fee they just keep increasing every year.
U1
10:12
Right. So how do you navigate how did you navigate the, um, the visa process? I know it's a I'm using this as a learning experience for myself to understand how things are done. I mean, I know how things are done in Nigeria. I know how the process is like, I know it's something similar to India, but what is the what is the process like in India? What is you know, what is a typical you've been you're usually at the embassy when you hear other people going through their own interviews. What is the typical reasons for rejection, you know, and how did your own experience goes just to get an understanding for, for people.
U2
10:48
Um, so if you're a student, right. It's pretty straightforward. Um, you can go to the embassy and all they ask is why you want to go. Okay. And where you are going and what is your motive after going there? Right. So you can say that. Yeah. I want to go learn some things and probably I can come back to India so students, I won't think they get rejected because obviously they are still going to study and they are paying the fee. They are helping the economy. It's not going to hurt. Most of the rejections happen, you know, maybe if they are going for some work. So for Indian students going abroad, it's not a problem. Oh
U1
11:29
okay okay okay. All right. That's good. So, um, so you got you got your visa, you got a, you know, you got on a plane you landed in. What is it? This was an Illinois.
U2
11:41
Yes. Yeah. It's like two hours south of Chicago, Illinois.
U1
11:45
So how cold was this? Did you know? Okay, so did you have did you have an idea of the state you were coming into? And did you have any friends in Chicago? Uh, or in Bradley? Because I know usually, you know, once you land and then you probably come you probably came in the fall, not the winter semester. So how was how was that changed for you?
U2
12:07
That's a good question. So 1s I came in spring intake, which is January, which is the big winter,
U1
12:16
the peak. Yes. So you came at the peak of winter? Yes. When? So when I did the research, I applied for four different schools and one in Texas, one in Illinois, uh, and a couple of others somewhere. I know for a fact I want to experience the Four Seasons. So Illinois is best for experiencing the bitter cold and summer, spring and fall. So I know. Yeah, I'm going through this. So I already bought my stuff like a jacket. Uh, okay. Shoes and everything in India. I was ready to face this. Okay. Um,
U2
12:56
and also, I was contacting the Indian community in the university and got to know a few of the students who are there and who are also, you know, going to start their journey. Okay. Okay. 1s I went to one of the one of the students home in Chennai before. Before I left, I went to meet his parents.
U1
13:22
Parents. Okay, okay. And I got some information. Then I contacted that guy and he said, hey, come, you know, you can stay with me, right? You can be your roommate. So that all happened because I contacted the university, the the Indian Association. I got some information. Okay.
U2
13:40
Um, so when I boarded the flight and, uh, that flight journey was horrible. It's like the first time I'm traveling, like, 20, 24 hours. Oh, no.
U1
13:50
So how many connecting flights did you have to take?
U2
13:53
Uh, I had to take, uh, one connecting flight. Okay, but 2s sometimes two. But that flight is like a non-stop 14 hour flight. Oh,
U1
14:04
no. I remember my own flight. I you you at some point, you just said, you know what? This plane. I'm not going anymore. Just land. Land anywhere you want to land. I want to go back. You know, you must have been brutal. That
U2
14:17
was horrible experience. But that's the first time, you know? So for so long a flight. And then I got used to it. But the first time was horrible. So I would suggest, you know, take some, uh, precautions when you take a long flight. Okay. So I landed in Chicago. It was great. Uh, I took a bus from Chicago to Peoria. I did the homework. How to, you know, get to Peoria, 2s then? Uh, I mean, I told that, uh, the friend who I was talking to. So he was waiting at the bus stop, and as soon as they, you know, got off from the bus, he took me to his room. Okay, then. Yeah, it was good. I slept. I mean, for the next seven days, the jetlag was terrible. I was sleeping in the daytime like crazy.
U1
15:04
Right?
U2
15:05
That's like a 12 hour difference from India to U.S. So yeah, it took me, like, at least a week or two to get over the jetlag.
U1
15:14
So based based on just this first set of things, you've said, what is in a lot of things you've said. So what is the one advice you would give? Uh, not just Indian students, but also any international students. So you can see how much work you put in. You had to do research, reached out to the school to let the school know that you were coming. They gave you access to or you found the Indian community and you reached out to someone. Um, so what is the one advice you would give? Because some people just show up and assume that everything would work out. 1s So. 1s One advice I would give to anybody from any country is right.
U2
15:52
Every university has the International Student Association. Every university.
U1
15:58
Okay. Yes. Just send an email or if you want to call, call them. Contact with them. There is a Facebook group. Um, right. No, I mean internet is there. Just use it. Get to connect with anybody there from there. Network contact. There may be somebody from your country or from your state, you know, contact them. Uh, ask questions before you go there. Get to know people. And first thing for accommodation is a big thing. So you can't afford to get a dorm in the US. It's very expensive. So you have to live off campus, okay, to live
U2
16:39
on campus, it's also expensive. So the best thing to do is get a roommate. Okay, so before you fly there,
U1
16:47
finding a roommate would be to use one of the to reach out to the international student body or reach out to the Facebook groups of, you know, international students. Let's say maybe you have an Indian community or a Nigerian community or so that would be okay. Well that's good. Um, okay, so now you're in the US, I also so the next question just leads me to the next question that you got an assistantship. Mhm. Um, what exactly did you do to get this. And you know, you know, and on top of that what the kind of advice you would give for that.
U2
17:22
Sure. So before I started, I have four years of work experience. So when when I applied to this college, uh, they contacted me saying that, hey, we are glad to, uh, get you admitted here. Right. And we are also giving a scholarship.
U1
17:40
Okay. I reached out
U2
17:41
to the professor. I got an email, okay, a website. I reached out to the professor saying, hey, I am, I'm this, I'm doing this, I'm from here, blah blah, blah, so and so. So I explained my thing and they gave me a graduate assistant scholarship, okay. Which is really great. And that gave me like a tuition waiver. Okay. Um, so you didn't
U1
18:07
have so you didn't have to pay any tuition.
U2
18:11
Well, it's like a 50% waiver.
U1
18:14
So you paid in-state tuition? Probably. Um, you didn't have, because I know usually when, um, there's some graduate assistantship that just waived some tuition, like, for me, I had to pay only in-state tuition. So maybe it's, you know, so how much was how much was the original tuition, uh, that you were supposed to pay and how much did you end up paying?
U2
18:36
I think it was, uh, 12,000. No, 23,000. Uh, okay. I ended up paying 12,000 USD.
U1
18:44
Okay. So most likely you probably paid
U2
18:46
in-state. Um. 4s Yeah, yeah. I don't know how much is the in-state, but yes, 50% is a huge deal for me. It's
U1
18:55
a huge yeah. It's huge. Yeah. Yes.
U2
18:58
And then after I joined. 1s I spoke to the professor, and 1s I also got like a 20 hour, uh, graduate teaching assistant program so I can teach the undergrad, and I assist the professor in grading the sheets. So that gave me, like, apart from the scholarship I had, like, um, uh, sorry, ten hours of, uh, teaching assistantship program that paid me. So the university paid me every week. So that was a big deal.
U1
19:30
Yeah. And that was helpful to pay your I know I don't know how expensive that area is. Was I able to help cover your cost of living, at least?
U2
19:39
Sure, yeah, I did. So as a student, we can work 20 hours a week legally. Um, so ten hours. I got a teaching assistantship. The other ten hours I worked as a I worked in the cafeteria. I worked in, uh. 1s You know, like a janitorial thing. So I did everything in the campus,
U1
20:02
on the campus to make sure that you could you could cover your 20 hours.
U2
20:06
Okay. So I was, you know, I been able to pay my rent, my food. Okay. So no problem.
U1
20:14
Okay. I also noticed that you got, um, uh, a scholarship. Uh, aside from the. You got the graduate Leadership and Service award. Dean's award. Uh, you also got this was called Marjorie Reynolds scholarship recipient. So how did you how did you apply for that? So what kind of advice would you give? Because a lot of people. So one thing I've noticed with people is they sit in their home countries and say they want these scholarships, but I keep on telling them, if you don't show up, if you're not in front of the dean or in front of your department, no one's going to hand you a scholarship if you sit all the way in your country. So you always get this, oh, I want a scholarship. I want to come and study grad school. I want a scholarship. So what did you do to get these scholarships as listed on your LinkedIn? So this would probably help people to understand that you have to be here. You can't want a scholarship from abroad. Correct. 1s And that's good. Yeah.
U2
21:19
I'm glad you brought it up. It's a it's a story. So when when I landed in the US in that college. Right. I met, uh, people from it's a small association called Bridges International. It's in every country and also pathways, which is Peoria area friends for international students. I think that's in particular for that Bradley University, I guess. Okay, so these are families. So they invite international students to their home. They invite for dinner, they take you out for, uh, if you want grocery, they can take you out. They can teach you driving lessons. So it's like a group of families. They help international students. Oh. So actually, I got connected with these people. I showed up to the event, um, they have, like, a expo kind of thing. And so I just spoke to the people. I got to know them. Okay? And that's how I got, like, a network. So when it came, uh, after a year of. Yeah, in my second year of my masters. Yeah. So they got this, um, I was told, hey, there is a scholarship coming up. Okay, you can nominate yourself. And you you can, uh, so, yes, 1s this was listed publicly. Okay. Then I thought, okay, I can nominate myself, but I need recommendation letters. So since I am connected with all these people, I got recommendation letter from, uh, two and three families, and I got recommendation letter from my lab in charge. Okay. I was teaching undergrad in the manufacturing lab. Okay. And the lab in charge. I got recommendation from him. Uh, one from my professor. Okay, so if you have a good network, you can get recommended. And that's how I got that scholarship, right? The other one, um, it's called the Parents Association certification. Where you can, you know, tell the university, hey, I, I was involved in all these activities. I was helping students. I was helping the incoming international students. They can talk to me. 1s And I was recognized for that. The Dean's Award. Uh, that's my, uh, research project. So at the end of two years, I have to present, uh, research. Okay. I presented it with the help of my professor and. Right. You know, among all those, uh, research were presented, mine was selected, and I was given a Dean's award for that. Okay. That's
U1
24:00
okay. Oh, that's very good. And this this is quite helpful because I know that lots of, um, families that actually do help. So, um, I hope people listening will understand that sometimes you actually have to be here physically to take advantage of whatever scholarships that are here. Because you can imagine people here are here already, and then people outside you can't imagine. They can't prioritize people outside the country. You don't have to give people inside the country first before they think about giving scholarships to people outside the country. 45s Thank you for tuning into this episode of Lip Drama. I hope it brought you valuable insights and stories that resonate with your journey. If you have any thoughts to share, questions or want to send a voice note with your feedback, please visit our website at Lip jackpot IO. You will find the contact form there. I would love to hear from you and feature your voice in your future episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform, some of which are Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, or Player FM. Your subscriptions and reviews help us grow and reach more listeners, and I truly appreciate each one of them. Also, check out our merch store on lip with Jacquard IO website for some cool t shirts and hoodies, perfect for showing your support for the show. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll dive even deeper into the experiences and challenges of international education and careers. Until then, keep leaping forward. And thanks again for being part of the Leopard Jaguar community.
U1
0:01
Welcome to the Leap with jabber, the podcast that bridges continents and connects stories. Join us as we dive into the vibrant world of international education, explore diverse cultures, and share the extraordinary journeys of students far from home. Whether you're dreaming of studying abroad or already embarking on this adventure through other means. Literature is your companion in navigating the exciting, challenging, and transformative world of global education. Let's leap into today's episode. 12s So welcome. Anand, how are you?
U2
0:49
Hey. I'm good. Good. How are you?
U1
0:51
Yeah. Welcome to the show. So I have Anand here. He's a manufacturing engineer. Uh, lean manufacturing machining engineer with. What's your company name again? It's. GCN.
U2
1:04
Yeah, it's called GCN. Driveline. They have automotive. Aerospace. Uh, they are all over the world like a multinational company. And their headquarters is in Poland. Um, I joined this company eight months ago. Okay. It's it's doing good. They are manufacturing. Uh, I would say like 60% of the world's car have their parts.
U1
1:32
Oh, really?
U2
1:33
Yeah, it's it's big. It's big. Okay. I'm particularly happy because this your background is not a traditional software engineering background, you know, so I like the diversity in the experience. Uh, just to give people a backdrop, Anand reached out to me on a podcast, uh, Facebook group. He was looking to get people to test his application. We'll talk about the application later. Later on. Um, but, you know, and and, um, his last name is. What's your last name? Uh. Unknown speaker. Yeah.
U1
2:06
Is that form or the long form? No, that's that's my name. There's a tag. There's a fun fact I want to tell. So. Yeah, my last name is actually my father's name. Oh,
U2
2:18
okay. So in India, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, where I am from. Yeah. Um, in the 1960s, the the minister of Tamil Nadu, he told not to add the family name because through the family name, people will get to know the caste, what the caste system there
U1
2:39
are. Okay.
U2
2:41
So they started, uh, having the father's name as last name. So that's the history behind it? Yeah.
U1
2:48
So, uh, so I know they also did that in, 1s uh, in Mongolia, where most people don't actually have the they take their father's name instead of the last name. And in the past, I think it was more of a socialist regime kind of thing. I don't know, I don't know why they ask them, but that's actually quite interesting that that you would, that you would do that. So. Oh, so that means your last name can identify your, um, your caste. So things like I know an example is the most people, um, with a sing last name are usually um, of a particular religion. For example, everybody has the same glasses that something. Is that how you mean?
U2
3:33
Yeah. You can see Patel. Singh. Yeah. All these are family names. So would there the last name, you can exactly say which background, which state, which language they speak. Right. Yeah. Okay.
U1
3:48
Oh, okay. That's good to know. Well, welcome. Welcome. And, um, one of the things that I want to start with is, can you tell us about your journey from India, uh, to becoming a grad student in the US? What was, um. 1s Uh, what was that like?
U2
4:04
Sure. So I did my undergrad in India. I did my mechanical engineering. Okay. And after that, I was working in a oil and gas company called Saipem India. Okay. I worked there for a couple of years, and then I joined my dad. My dad has a small scale, uh, manufacturing industry. He's a supplier for Taffy. Yeah. Oh,
U1
4:28
tractor. You've been doing manufacturing for a while. Even as. As a kid?
U2
4:34
Yes. I was growing up, seeing my dad, you know, working in a company, uh, not working, like working with metals.
U1
4:43
Okay, okay. They do a fabrication job, so it's like, uh, complete a job with, like, uh, 25kg. So I, we go to our dad's company. Uh, so I've seen working, and I got interested in this field. Okay. In fact, I wanted to do computer science. Engineering. But then. 2s Uh, undergrad I took the first year, I took computer science. Engineering, but, okay,
U2
5:10
somehow I didn't get that connection. That's not in me. So I switched over to manufacturing engineering. Mechanical engineering.
U1
5:18
Because I know, I know a lot of, uh, Indians study, uh, computer science. You're the. I think you're the second person I've met from India that did mechanical engineering and is working the first person works works in an automotive industry he's working with. I think it's the Chinese, uh, electric car manufacturer. Uh, it's in Santa Clara somewhere. That's that's where he was working. And that's. That was very. I found out very strange. Like, you didn't do computer science. You did mechanical engineering. So you're you're the. So how did you so, so just, you know, let us know. How did you after you completed your, your undergrad. So how did you get into grad school?
U2
6:00
Um. So after that, I was with my dad, and then I thought. 1s I want to go abroad. I want to see other countries. I want to experience the different culture. Right. Um, so I started looking at, okay, where to go, I and I, it's good because my friends was they went to UK, US, Australia to do their masters. And I was wondering, okay, let me also do this and I want to do this right. So I started exploring, uh. 1s I started exploring in my field manufacturing and I found yours has good schools. Okay. UK its one year programme and I don't feel comfortable with that. So I thought okay, us now what? Uh, then I went to a counselling not a counselling. It's like a consulting. Yeah. Consulting agent right. I asked them, hey, what should I do? So they told me, okay, what do you want to do? Uh, okay. They gathered some information, made a list of universities that offer. 1s Then I thought to myself, okay, I don't want to pay the consultants to do this. You know, I want to do my homework. I started looking online, gathered information, then I okay, I finalized 2 or 3 universities. I sent out an application. Okay. And I finally got, I mean, admitted in one of the universities, Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. And that's my journey started.
U1
7:31
Yeah, it's Bradley, a private university or is it a public university?
U2
7:35
It's a private university.
U1
7:37
Okay. Okay. So did you have to do did you have to do any GRE, any TOEFL? Did you have to do any of that?
U2
7:44
Yes. Uh, to apply to the US universities I would say like 90% of the universities expect, uh, GRE. Okay. So, um, maybe a few universities, but GRE. Yeah, it's a must for 90, 90% of the universities. They want to, uh, see the capability of the student before they get admitted. So GRE is kind of like a preliminary process. They they can easily eliminate candidates, you know, if they don't have a good score.
U1
8:14
Okay. So so for Indian, for Indian students and recent grads, would you advise them to use consultants or do you just advise them to, um, to do it by themselves? What is the drawback of doing it by yourself as opposed to doing it with a consultant?
U2
8:31
Um. So first thing I would suggest, do it yourself. The reason is if you go to consultants, uh, first they have a set of universities and they and they will be like, okay, this university go to here, go here, go here. I know people went here. So they just try to focus on some things. Uh. 1s It's good to know the process, but don't give your money to somebody to do what you have to do. You do your homework. It may take some time. Just do your research. Because right now internet, it's everything available for free. All the information. So just do your homework, do the research and whatever courses you want. You can just type in and see what universities offer the course and make shortlist based on so many reviews. You can ask people, you can even directly contact the college and, you know, get some information. So I would say consultants is an easier way to go. But. If you really want to dig, dig deep. I would suggest you now do the homework yourself. Okay.
U1
9:43
So what? How much do these consultants typically take and how many schools did they help you with?
U2
9:50
So they charge based on a number of schools, I guess it's like more than ten, 11 years ago, so I. Okay. I vaguely remember. Okay. But I think they can provide like three schools. More than that, they will charge more. I don't know how much they charge because the fee they just keep increasing every year.
U1
10:12
Right. So how do you navigate how did you navigate the, um, the visa process? I know it's a I'm using this as a learning experience for myself to understand how things are done. I mean, I know how things are done in Nigeria. I know how the process is like, I know it's something similar to India, but what is the what is the process like in India? What is you know, what is a typical you've been you're usually at the embassy when you hear other people going through their own interviews. What is the typical reasons for rejection, you know, and how did your own experience goes just to get an understanding for, for people.
U2
10:48
Um, so if you're a student, right. It's pretty straightforward. Um, you can go to the embassy and all they ask is why you want to go. Okay. And where you are going and what is your motive after going there? Right. So you can say that. Yeah. I want to go learn some things and probably I can come back to India so students, I won't think they get rejected because obviously they are still going to study and they are paying the fee. They are helping the economy. It's not going to hurt. Most of the rejections happen, you know, maybe if they are going for some work. So for Indian students going abroad, it's not a problem. Oh
U1
11:29
okay okay okay. All right. That's good. So, um, so you got you got your visa, you got a, you know, you got on a plane you landed in. What is it? This was an Illinois.
U2
11:41
Yes. Yeah. It's like two hours south of Chicago, Illinois.
U1
11:45
So how cold was this? Did you know? Okay, so did you have did you have an idea of the state you were coming into? And did you have any friends in Chicago? Uh, or in Bradley? Because I know usually, you know, once you land and then you probably come you probably came in the fall, not the winter semester. So how was how was that changed for you?
U2
12:07
That's a good question. So 1s I came in spring intake, which is January, which is the big winter,
U1
12:16
the peak. Yes. So you came at the peak of winter? Yes. When? So when I did the research, I applied for four different schools and one in Texas, one in Illinois, uh, and a couple of others somewhere. I know for a fact I want to experience the Four Seasons. So Illinois is best for experiencing the bitter cold and summer, spring and fall. So I know. Yeah, I'm going through this. So I already bought my stuff like a jacket. Uh, okay. Shoes and everything in India. I was ready to face this. Okay. Um,
U2
12:56
and also, I was contacting the Indian community in the university and got to know a few of the students who are there and who are also, you know, going to start their journey. Okay. Okay. 1s I went to one of the one of the students home in Chennai before. Before I left, I went to meet his parents.
U1
13:22
Parents. Okay, okay. And I got some information. Then I contacted that guy and he said, hey, come, you know, you can stay with me, right? You can be your roommate. So that all happened because I contacted the university, the the Indian Association. I got some information. Okay.
U2
13:40
Um, so when I boarded the flight and, uh, that flight journey was horrible. It's like the first time I'm traveling, like, 20, 24 hours. Oh, no.
U1
13:50
So how many connecting flights did you have to take?
U2
13:53
Uh, I had to take, uh, one connecting flight. Okay, but 2s sometimes two. But that flight is like a non-stop 14 hour flight. Oh,
U1
14:04
no. I remember my own flight. I you you at some point, you just said, you know what? This plane. I'm not going anymore. Just land. Land anywhere you want to land. I want to go back. You know, you must have been brutal. That
U2
14:17
was horrible experience. But that's the first time, you know? So for so long a flight. And then I got used to it. But the first time was horrible. So I would suggest, you know, take some, uh, precautions when you take a long flight. Okay. So I landed in Chicago. It was great. Uh, I took a bus from Chicago to Peoria. I did the homework. How to, you know, get to Peoria, 2s then? Uh, I mean, I told that, uh, the friend who I was talking to. So he was waiting at the bus stop, and as soon as they, you know, got off from the bus, he took me to his room. Okay, then. Yeah, it was good. I slept. I mean, for the next seven days, the jetlag was terrible. I was sleeping in the daytime like crazy.
U1
15:04
Right?
U2
15:05
That's like a 12 hour difference from India to U.S. So yeah, it took me, like, at least a week or two to get over the jetlag.
U1
15:14
So based based on just this first set of things, you've said, what is in a lot of things you've said. So what is the one advice you would give? Uh, not just Indian students, but also any international students. So you can see how much work you put in. You had to do research, reached out to the school to let the school know that you were coming. They gave you access to or you found the Indian community and you reached out to someone. Um, so what is the one advice you would give? Because some people just show up and assume that everything would work out. 1s So. 1s One advice I would give to anybody from any country is right.
U2
15:52
Every university has the International Student Association. Every university.
U1
15:58
Okay. Yes. Just send an email or if you want to call, call them. Contact with them. There is a Facebook group. Um, right. No, I mean internet is there. Just use it. Get to connect with anybody there from there. Network contact. There may be somebody from your country or from your state, you know, contact them. Uh, ask questions before you go there. Get to know people. And first thing for accommodation is a big thing. So you can't afford to get a dorm in the US. It's very expensive. So you have to live off campus, okay, to live
U2
16:39
on campus, it's also expensive. So the best thing to do is get a roommate. Okay, so before you fly there,
U1
16:47
finding a roommate would be to use one of the to reach out to the international student body or reach out to the Facebook groups of, you know, international students. Let's say maybe you have an Indian community or a Nigerian community or so that would be okay. Well that's good. Um, okay, so now you're in the US, I also so the next question just leads me to the next question that you got an assistantship. Mhm. Um, what exactly did you do to get this. And you know, you know, and on top of that what the kind of advice you would give for that.
U2
17:22
Sure. So before I started, I have four years of work experience. So when when I applied to this college, uh, they contacted me saying that, hey, we are glad to, uh, get you admitted here. Right. And we are also giving a scholarship.
U1
17:40
Okay. I reached out
U2
17:41
to the professor. I got an email, okay, a website. I reached out to the professor saying, hey, I am, I'm this, I'm doing this, I'm from here, blah blah, blah, so and so. So I explained my thing and they gave me a graduate assistant scholarship, okay. Which is really great. And that gave me like a tuition waiver. Okay. Um, so you didn't
U1
18:07
have so you didn't have to pay any tuition.
U2
18:11
Well, it's like a 50% waiver.
U1
18:14
So you paid in-state tuition? Probably. Um, you didn't have, because I know usually when, um, there's some graduate assistantship that just waived some tuition, like, for me, I had to pay only in-state tuition. So maybe it's, you know, so how much was how much was the original tuition, uh, that you were supposed to pay and how much did you end up paying?
U2
18:36
I think it was, uh, 12,000. No, 23,000. Uh, okay. I ended up paying 12,000 USD.
U1
18:44
Okay. So most likely you probably paid
U2
18:46
in-state. Um. 4s Yeah, yeah. I don't know how much is the in-state, but yes, 50% is a huge deal for me. It's
U1
18:55
a huge yeah. It's huge. Yeah. Yes.
U2
18:58
And then after I joined. 1s I spoke to the professor, and 1s I also got like a 20 hour, uh, graduate teaching assistant program so I can teach the undergrad, and I assist the professor in grading the sheets. So that gave me, like, apart from the scholarship I had, like, um, uh, sorry, ten hours of, uh, teaching assistantship program that paid me. So the university paid me every week. So that was a big deal.
U1
19:30
Yeah. And that was helpful to pay your I know I don't know how expensive that area is. Was I able to help cover your cost of living, at least?
U2
19:39
Sure, yeah, I did. So as a student, we can work 20 hours a week legally. Um, so ten hours. I got a teaching assistantship. The other ten hours I worked as a I worked in the cafeteria. I worked in, uh. 1s You know, like a janitorial thing. So I did everything in the campus,
U1
20:02
on the campus to make sure that you could you could cover your 20 hours.
U2
20:06
Okay. So I was, you know, I been able to pay my rent, my food. Okay. So no problem.
U1
20:14
Okay. I also noticed that you got, um, uh, a scholarship. Uh, aside from the. You got the graduate Leadership and Service award. Dean's award. Uh, you also got this was called Marjorie Reynolds scholarship recipient. So how did you how did you apply for that? So what kind of advice would you give? Because a lot of people. So one thing I've noticed with people is they sit in their home countries and say they want these scholarships, but I keep on telling them, if you don't show up, if you're not in front of the dean or in front of your department, no one's going to hand you a scholarship if you sit all the way in your country. So you always get this, oh, I want a scholarship. I want to come and study grad school. I want a scholarship. So what did you do to get these scholarships as listed on your LinkedIn? So this would probably help people to understand that you have to be here. You can't want a scholarship from abroad. Correct. 1s And that's good. Yeah.
U2
21:19
I'm glad you brought it up. It's a it's a story. So when when I landed in the US in that college. Right. I met, uh, people from it's a small association called Bridges International. It's in every country and also pathways, which is Peoria area friends for international students. I think that's in particular for that Bradley University, I guess. Okay, so these are families. So they invite international students to their home. They invite for dinner, they take you out for, uh, if you want grocery, they can take you out. They can teach you driving lessons. So it's like a group of families. They help international students. Oh. So actually, I got connected with these people. I showed up to the event, um, they have, like, a expo kind of thing. And so I just spoke to the people. I got to know them. Okay? And that's how I got, like, a network. So when it came, uh, after a year of. Yeah, in my second year of my masters. Yeah. So they got this, um, I was told, hey, there is a scholarship coming up. Okay, you can nominate yourself. And you you can, uh, so, yes, 1s this was listed publicly. Okay. Then I thought, okay, I can nominate myself, but I need recommendation letters. So since I am connected with all these people, I got recommendation letter from, uh, two and three families, and I got recommendation letter from my lab in charge. Okay. I was teaching undergrad in the manufacturing lab. Okay. And the lab in charge. I got recommendation from him. Uh, one from my professor. Okay, so if you have a good network, you can get recommended. And that's how I got that scholarship, right? The other one, um, it's called the Parents Association certification. Where you can, you know, tell the university, hey, I, I was involved in all these activities. I was helping students. I was helping the incoming international students. They can talk to me. 1s And I was recognized for that. The Dean's Award. Uh, that's my, uh, research project. So at the end of two years, I have to present, uh, research. Okay. I presented it with the help of my professor and. Right. You know, among all those, uh, research were presented, mine was selected, and I was given a Dean's award for that. Okay. That's
U1
24:00
okay. Oh, that's very good. And this this is quite helpful because I know that lots of, um, families that actually do help. So, um, I hope people listening will understand that sometimes you actually have to be here physically to take advantage of whatever scholarships that are here. Because you can imagine people here are here already, and then people outside you can't imagine. They can't prioritize people outside the country. You don't have to give people inside the country first before they think about giving scholarships to people outside the country. 45s Thank you for tuning into this episode of Lip Drama. I hope it brought you valuable insights and stories that resonate with your journey. If you have any thoughts to share, questions or want to send a voice note with your feedback, please visit our website at Lip jackpot IO. You will find the contact form there. I would love to hear from you and feature your voice in your future episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform, some of which are Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, or Player FM. Your subscriptions and reviews help us grow and reach more listeners, and I truly appreciate each one of them. Also, check out our merch store on lip with Jacquard IO website for some cool t shirts and hoodies, perfect for showing your support for the show. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll dive even deeper into the experiences and challenges of international education and careers. Until then, keep leaping forward. And thanks again for being part of the Leopard Jaguar community.
Listen On
Support On
