Interview:

An interview with Manish Chahal, from India, a senior at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is majoring in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources.

Why did you decide to study in the U.S.A.?

The quality of higher education in U.S.A. is world known and I wanted to have that opportunity to enhance my knowledge. Besides the quality of education, U.S.A. offers much more opportunities than India and has a better living standard.

Why did you choose this particular university?

This university is located in the beautiful Sierra, Nevada, which attracted me.

Moreover the business school at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) is highly accredited and the professors here are very knowledgeable and are always willing to help students. Also, the diversity in the university is tremendous.

What do you like best?

The Business Management program prepares us very well for real world challenges. I love that the College of Business have some very good student clubs/associations in which students can exercise their leadership skills. This Spring I had a chance to serve as a secretary for the International Business Student Chapter (IBSC).

What do you miss most?

Every day I miss my family and my country. The time when I really miss my home is when there is an occasion, such as Diwali ( festival of lights), Lohdi ( Festival of harvesting ), or Holi ( festival of colors). I also miss the weather (no snow).

What was your biggest surprise?

The biggest surprise about U.S. education was that there is no spoon-feeding. In India, teachers would give us material and we would just cram it and take a test. But here is all about understanding stuff.

How have you handled:

...language differences?

I was fluent in English when I came to U.S.A. My accent was little different when I first came and I used to pronounce some of the words differently. Now when people listen to me they are surprised how good my accent is.

What are your activities?

I always have taken loads of credits, because I have to be a full-time student and second I want to complete school as soon as possible. All this doesn’t leave me with lots of free time to get involved in the activities a lot. But I was able to hold an officer position in the IBSC of Nevada World Trade Council.

How easy or difficult is making friends?

People here are pretty friendly, so it is easy to make friends. I have learnt one thing: if you want to be happy, just start getting along with other people. In the first two years, I was very reserved and didn’t like to talk to people a lot. But later, I made some good friends. This made me much happier and made it easy for me to adjust in U.S.A.

How relevant is your U.S. education to your personal goals and to the needs of your country?

I like helping people, so I am interested in Human Resource Management. Hopefully, with my management degree and certification of assurance of learning, I will be able to land a good job upon graduation. Every company needs Human Resource people.

What is your advice to other students?

The very first advice is please do consider financials before coming here. It is very hard for our parents to earn in Rupees and spend in Dollars. Do see if you can afford your education throughout the program.

Second, the U.S. offers very good opportunities. If you are really interested in getting educated then come to U.S. for studies.