I know..

I know how it is to walk into a room packed with more than two hundred students from over fifteen countries around the world.

It's a beautiful collage of colour as each student is dressed in the traditional costume of his or her country. The number of butterflies in my stomach increase as I near the large oak doors leading to the dining area of the hotel. My anxiety heightens on hearing the low buzz of chatter on the other side of the enormous double doors. This would be the first cross- cultural experience in my seventeen year- old life.

Pushing the doors open, I hear the familiar voice of my best friend Radha, in my head, "Why would anyone, want to go half way around the world, live with complete strangers, eat at all the wrong times and do everything backwards for an entire year?" And I open the door to a burst of chatter and a riot of colour- a feast to my eyes! “For this moment... I would do anything Radha!"

As I enter, I look around the hall to see students of different nationalities in their vibrant costumes sitting around numerous tables. The seemingly mindless chatter grows louder as I pass between tables, making my way to table number 12, which is assigned to me.

I push my dupatta- a traditional Indian veil- over my shoulder as I sit down. Being the only Indian delegate at the table, I valiantly try to make conversation with a Ghanaian boy who seemed to be around my age. We used a few English words and a lot of sign language to communicate. We must have looked hilarious, because the other Ghanaians were laughing their heads off at us (or me!). The laughter was contagious, and before I realised it, I was laughing along with them. That set me thinking- laughter- a common expression that binds people; it is truly a universal language.

The confluence in this room was made possible by the efforts of a student exchange program called the American Field Service (AFS). This is a program through which I have come as an exchange student from India to America for the year.

I walked through that room in Washington DC, where we had a three day orientation program before heading off to live with our host families- who were no more than a group of strangers at that point. The two hundred of us were there on a specialised exchange program called the Youth Exchange and Study (YES). The program is started and funded by the US State Department after the 9/11 attacks to educate people and improve relations between America and countries that have significant Muslim population. India is considered as such a country, and therefore, though I am not a Muslim, I found myself as part of the program.

I am proud to have been given this opportunity to unfold my rich and deep-rooted culture for others, and to learn about their culture in turn. Though several experiences such as this, I have gradually come to realise the immense responsibility that rest on my shoulder as an ambassador of my country and my religion to most people I meet, if not all.

It's amazing to think that just a group of young people like us could bring about a change for the better by bridging differences between cultures and help make this world a better place to live in. This is my gift to the world. Now, where is that Ghanaian boy...