Spurthi Alluri The Indian Students Organization (ISO) of San Jose State University is a student body (as the name suggests, of Indian students and alumni) that helps newly admitted students in academic, social and cultural perspectives. Apart from this, the ISO conducts cultural events on festivals such as Diwali, Holi etc.
One such event hosted by ISO is “Parichay” which is a welcome to all the newly admitted students of the particular semester. Parichay for Fall’2016 semester was held on 20th of August. The event went on with general do-s and do-not-s, breaking the ice sessions, fun little games, Bollywood dance-charades, random dances, THE ULTIMATE POKE ADVENTURE, yum pizza for lunch and the best of all: a feel-good musical performance by our ISO members.
The after session included alumni answering all of our general questions regarding the university and stay at the U.S., followed by respective department seniors guiding us through courses, professors, projects, assignments and every silly question from us novices.
Their every word of advice gave us a better prospective of what we can expect or what we should do in the upcoming semesters. Above all, they gave us a feeling of home, feeling of belonging. Until now I was excited to be here ( could probably classify that feeling as anxiety 😛 ), but now I’m happy that I’m here. I’m happy that we are representing our country. Happy that we have a family here of our own. Happy that we have a home away from home.
So here’s a shoutout to all the seniors of ISO ( who are present and not present in the picture) for giving us that feeling of home, for all the help you have done so far and for all the help that you will in future. Can’t wait to experience the upcoming events 🙂 Good luck!