I’m still not entirely sure why I chose to do an intensive Hindi language program the summer after my freshman year of college. I was mildly interested in India, but the same way I was interested with the rest of the world. Going to a public university surrounded by all of these new opportunities and experiences, it wasn’t hard to understand my new fascination with the world.
This is when I really discovered my love for languages. I just finished my first two semesters of Mandarin and was wondering what to do with the summer ahead of me. I was drawn to this poster about learning a whole year of a new language over the summer through a program called SASLI: the South Asian Summer Language Institute. There were so many languages I had never heard of. What is Bengali? Are you sure Punjabi is not a made up thing?
One language stood out to me, Hindi. I did some searching on the SASLI webpage and learned that Hindi was spoken by millions of people. Some people joked with me that because I was learning Mandarin and interested in learning Hindi, I would be able to communicate with countless people across the world.
My new found love for languages kicked in. I knew that I had to study Hindi that summer. So with a lot of financial planning and paperwork, I was signed up to study an equivalent to a full year of Hindi in just 8 weeks.
The first day of my classes, I met a few people: First, the Associate Director of the South Asian Department at UW Madison, second, one of my Hindi TA’s, and third my Hindi professor. I had no idea then, but these individuals would be some of the crucial people that connect me where I am today.
Fast forward a few years. I’ve graduated college with a double major in Marketing and International Business with two certificates (minors) in Professional Chinese Communication and South Asian Studies. I have three study abroad experiences under my belt and I returned to one of the cities I studied abroad in to begin my first job after college.
My then Hindi TA wrote one of the letters of recommendation for the funding that would lead me to Varanasi to study, the Associate Director of the South Asian Department was one of the people who interviewed my for my job, and my first year Hindi professor is my Landlord while in Varanasi. It all came full circle! I can’t thank them all enough for being a part of the reason I’m back in India.
It’s crazy to think that if I didn’t have the inkling to study a new, random (to me at least) language the summer after my freshman year, I wouldn’t be here today. These people who have each played a part in the steps that led up to where I am, would not have crossed my path. I would not be where I am today. Even the people I shared the Hindi class with come up in my life from time to time. We’ve even met up again in India!
So all of the students who are making their way to college for their first year of classes, my advice is to take what you are interested in. Don’t just take something solely for the “easy A”. What do you have inkling for? That one class may just be the doorway to a path and potentially a job that you love and experiences and memories you would never trade for the world.
Best of Luck!