From India to America

A few days after we immigrated to the United States, my dad got a job and we moved to Effingham, Ill. I began my junior year at Effingham High School and soon began to feel uncomfortable. I was doing well academically, but I missed everybody back home and I didn't have any friends.

Effingham was a small town and I was the only Indian in my school. There was no one to help me socially. I didn't even know about the dances or games happening around me. I focused on academics.

We were assigned to make posters for our math class. I made mine on an Indian mathematician named Aryabhatta. My teachers and other students liked the poster. They liked how I was trying to bring a different cultural perspective to class. That's when I realized I could use my Indian identity to participate more.

Up next: Being different is good