My Life

The first few months at college is always rough for every freshman and it is more pronounced if one comes from an alien country. I am an international student here at RIT coming from Singapore. Coming from a totally diverse culture there does arise a compatibility problem, but one has to adjust quickly to it or he would find himself in a sea of troubles. The few problems that one can encounter are often related to health, finance, budgeting and academics. These are the result of negligence on the student's part and improper work habits. The problem which I faced at RIT in my first few months was mostly concerned with health.

As I come from the Indian subcontinent I am bound by strict dietary laws. These laws prohibit me from having anything non-vegetarian, and I cannot even have vegetarian food which is cooked in the same utensils with the non-vegetarian food.

As a result I am left with very little choice. I have to keep my diet limited to juice, fruits and bread. To have the same food for three months gets monotonous after a certain point of time. After the few initial days I had become very negligent about my health. Due to late night studying I got up late. This resulted in me not having my breakfast which is said to be the most important meal of the day. Due to class timings I could not have anything until late in afternoon and this use to result in a big gap between dinner and my next meal. I was not particular about my dinner too. If I ate something in the evening I often skipped my dinner. All these habits resulted in a total health disorder. I lost weight and strength. These disorders had not struck me until I went to India where my family members explained the problem to me.

After coming back from India I decided to take a step towards this. I went and spoke to the food Director of our college and got a full debit as my meal plan. The college did well to understand our problem and have provided for processed food packets in the college stores. Along with this the on-campus dining halls have also started serving the food of our choice. Getting the full debit helped me immensely as I could go and purchase the food packets. I also required a plan which was flexible and full debit provides full flexibility. I can now eat when and where I want. This helps me as I don't skip any meals now. I also can buy grocery with my debit points now, which helps me to keep my refrigerator stocked up! I am grateful to the college authorities for understanding my problem and providing me with the flexibility which I required. It has improved my lifestyle tremendously. I now have breakfast everyday, which makes me feel fresh. This has also helped my academics as I am more fit than what I was. I am happy to have overcome my problem, which has made my life more interesting and enthusiastic.

                                                                                                                                Ashish Jhunjhunwala