Advice from a Junior to Freshmen -xoTani
Moving here was very hard, especially for me, as I am an only child and incredibly close to my parents. I was uncertain about many things: the new culture, environment, academic structure, and, overall, starting a new school.
The best part about living in a diverse and modern city like Chicago is that the environment is very accepting of all cultures, including my Indian roots. Streets like Devon are mainly populated by Desi families and are abundant in Indian Restaurants and various stores such as ethnic jewelry and apparel. It is great to see that people here can stay close to their backgrounds despite being oceans apart.
The overall environment in Chicago was something I loved right away. I have grown up in two cities in the past – Pune and Zurich, hence I was excited to continue to be a part of a large and buzzing community. Something about a college town was just not my vibe. Having the ability to just open your door and see where the day takes you is a great advantage to have. If the city in question is as grandiose as Chicago, there is no question you too will have a great time for sure.
Academically speaking, I am happy for fun events such as my first hackathon (READ HERE), quarterly career fairs (READ HERE) and opportunities such as visiting the SWE 24 event in McCormick place (READ HERE), which have also been great additions to my resume.
Overall, while I am halfway done, I am grateful for everything DePaul University has given me over the past two years. I am very excited to see what the next two final years at DePaul will provide me with. I am excited for more lessons that are to come my way before I am able to hold my shiny certificate, in two years’ time from right now!
But for now, I am focused on this upcoming fall quarter :).
– xoTani
Apply to DePaul Today!
It feels like yesterday I packed my bags from India, my home, and came to Chicago in order to start my new chapter of life: College. In just a blink of an eye, I can’t believe that 50% of my college journey is over. As a rising junior, I cannot believe I will be an upperclassman starting Fall of this year! There are so many things that I can reflect on at my midpoint of this milestone, and I hope this can help some more international students make great decisions based on my experiences.
DePaul University has always been on my radar. As a film enthusiast who started out as a film major, I had an eye out for this University for two reasons:
- It’s high ratings. DePaul is ranked within the top 10 universities for film education in America
- Location – City of Chicago
With my passion for filmmaking, it was a no-brainer for me to apply to DePaul, as it offered phenomenal classes in Cinespace. This is why I completed my application for DePaul University on Campus Connect and hoped for the best! (READ HERE ABOUT CHANGING MAJORS)
Having grown up in multiple school structures, such as the Cambridge International Curriculum and the Swiss Public Schools, I wasn’t new to adapting to a new school structure. A fun fact is that DePaul assumes you come from different backgrounds and allows its students to adapt to the new college structure in the first quarter by taking classes such as Explore/Discover Chicago and WRD102. While I was completely new to “Rubrics” and MLA formats, all the tools were provided to me in order to feel comfortable and advance with my harder classes.
Starting a new school can be incredibly scary. But the best thing about joining college is that everyone is new there, too. Especially at a school like DePaul, students come from all across the country and even the world. During the first quarter, everyone is looking for friends, and thanks to the Orientation games that are structured to break the ice and help you get familiar with faces you will be seeing across campus for the next four years, things do get easier. Additionally, I would highly encourage joining a club. Having friends who are into the same niche as you can help you find familiarity when every other aspect you are surrounded by is new. (READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT CLUBS AT DEPAUL HERE)
