Bridges Across the Ocean: The Journey of Camila Torres — A Latin American Student Finding Her Second Home in India
When 24-year-old Camila Torres from Medellín boarded a late-night flight bound for India, she felt a mixture of excitement and fear swirling in her stomach. She had travelled before — short trips around South America with her friends — but nothing compared to crossing continents alone, heading toward a country she had only glimpsed through films, music videos, and long conversations with Indian classmates back home.
She expected color, culture shock, maybe chaos.
What she didn’t expect was that this journey would quietly rewire her sense of identity, challenge her assumptions about the world, and open a door to a country that felt unfamiliar yet strangely welcoming from the very first day.
Camila answered our India–LATAM exchange survey like many students do — carefully, checking boxes, writing practical details. But behind those answers lived a much larger, more textured story. Her responses became a window into the kind of transformation that happens only when someone leaves everything they know and walks into a world built on different rhythms, values, tastes, and languages. Every moment became a lesson in adaptability, empathy, and discovery.
Choosing India: A Decision Rooted in Curiosity, Defiance, and a Desire to Grow
On the survey, Camila selected several motivations for choosing India: scholarships, affordability, academic specialization, and cultural interest. But when she spoke about it later, the truth revealed itself with more emotion.
“Most people around me were applying to the U.S. or Europe. I didn’t want to follow the same map everyone else was using. I wanted to learn something new — not just academically, but about myself.”
The decision surprised her family. Her grandmother was both amused and concerned, repeating her famous line for weeks: “India, mija? Why so far?”
Camila understood their worry. India, for many in her community, was a place of stereotypes: heat, crowds, spices, temples. But for her, it was a place that sparked curiosity rather than fear. She had spent hours reading, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, imagining the streets, the sounds, the smells — but nothing prepared her for the reality.
The scholarship helped. So did the uniqueness of the program she wanted to pursue. But ultimately, she admits it was the desire to grow in a direction no one around her had chosen. That boldness became a thread running through every experience she had over the next year: from navigating crowded streets to making friends from different continents, from negotiating a hostel room to celebrating festivals she had only seen online.
Arrival: Noise, Heat, Kindness, and the First Real Lessons in Adaptation
Camila rated the visa and admissions process as a “4 out of 5” in difficulty — long queues, complicated forms, emails that took weeks to get answers. But she also said it taught her the first soft skill of international life: patience, and the importance of small victories.
The moment she stepped out of the airport in India, everything hit at once.
“The heat felt like a physical force,” she recalls. It wasn’t just hot — it was alive, wrapping itself around her before she even found her luggage cart. The noise was louder, the colors more saturated, the energy more intense than anything she had imagined. The streets were crowded with vehicles honking in symphony, people moving in all directions, and vendors calling out offers in a melodic chaos that felt overwhelming and thrilling all at once.
And yet, in that storm of newness, she found unexpected comfort. A stranger helped her negotiate with a taxi driver. Another young woman guided her to a kiosk to buy a SIM card. Someone else explained how to use a digital payment app. These tiny acts of kindness softened the shock of arrival and gave her the courage to face the days ahead.
“I felt overwhelmed, but not alone. That made all the difference. It was my first lesson in how a country can be unfamiliar and welcoming at the same time.”
The first week was a blur of smells, sounds, and constant learning — how to cross a busy street, how to bargain for groceries, how to understand regional accents, how to trust that she could navigate the unknown. Each small success became a quiet celebration, and each mistake a reminder to stay curious rather than anxious.
Academic Life: Demanding, Inspiring, and Full of Global Conversations
When asked how the education system differed from the one in her home country, Camila didn’t hesitate.
First, the courses were more theory-driven than she expected. Professors pushed students to read widely, question deeply, and show independence rather than rely on constant guidance. She learned to structure her own studies, manage time efficiently, and ask thoughtful questions — skills she had never needed to practice so rigorously before.
Second, the rhythm was intense. Assignments came fast; exams required both memory and critical thinking; deadlines appeared quickly on her calendar. Camila recalls nights spent poring over texts while listening to distant music from other students’ rooms, learning not just about academic topics, but about the discipline of consistency and perseverance.
Third, professor-student dynamics were intriguing. At first, she found them formal and distant. But with time, she realized the formality was cultural — not emotional. Many of her professors became mentors once she approached them with enthusiasm, offering guidance on research projects, practical advice for internships, and even encouragement during moments of homesickness.
Finally, there was the diversity. Her classmates came from across India — and from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The classroom became a miniature world where every debate carried cultural layers she had never considered before. Discussions on economics, social policy, and environmental studies were enriched by multiple perspectives, giving her a global lens, she had never experienced at home.
These academic challenges stretched her brain and her confidence. She learned not only content but also how to articulate ideas in a global setting — something she now considers one of the most valuable parts of her experience.
Daily Life: The Art of Becoming Part of a New Culture
Camila lives in student housing, a crowded but vibrant building where hallways echo with music, late-night conversations, and the smell of spices drifting from kitchens. The rooms are simple, but each corner feels alive with shared experience.
Adjusting wasn’t easy. The food was the biggest shock. At first, she avoided anything red or orange, assuming it would burn her tongue. Slowly, she began experimenting — tasting biryani, chole, crispy doses, endless kinds of chai. She grew to love the warmth of Indian hospitality around meals. Yet, she also cooked arepas and ajiaco whenever she could find ingredients, weaving her own culture into this new space.
Festivals became her gateway into the heart of Indian culture. During her first Holi, she found herself covered in bright colors and surrounded by laughter, dancing with people she had known only for a few weeks. On Diwali, she sat with classmates lighting small clay lamps, sharing sweets, and exchanging stories about family traditions and personal memories. These moments were when India stopped being a place she merely lived in and became a place she belonged to.
Friendships followed naturally. Group projects turned into shared meals, roommates became confidants, and shared cultural confusion became a source of humor and bonding. She learned to navigate the city, bargain in markets, ride auto-rickshaws, and celebrate victories with the kind of joy India is famous for. Every interaction, from late-night chats to festival games, built a sense of belonging that made homesickness manageable and adventure constant.
Future Plans: Turning Experience into Purpose
Studying in India reshaped Camila’s vision for her future.
She now wants to work in cultural exchange programs, international cooperation, or organizations connecting India and Latin America. Living abroad helped her understand both regions more clearly — their similarities, their misunderstandings, and their potential to collaborate.
She feels drawn to roles that build bridges between continents, especially in education, culture, and social development. Her experience has taught her that empathy, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication are as valuable as academic achievement.
Her top advice for students considering a similar journey reflects her own transformation:
Top 3 Tips from Camila
1. Come with an open mind. The unfamiliar will challenge you, but it will also teach you more than you expect.
2. Be patient — with paperwork, with adaptation, with yourself. Everything gets easier with time.
3. Say yes to invitations. Festivals, group hangouts, food tastings, campus events — this is where real connection happens.
Conclusion: One Story That Represents Thousands
Camila’s voice is one among hundreds of students connecting India and Latin America in ways that statistics or policy documents can’t fully capture. Her journey shows that international education is not just about degrees — it’s about building empathy, curiosity, and long-lasting bonds across continents.
“India didn’t just give me new knowledge; it gave me a new version of myself. Now I feel like I live between two worlds — and both feel like home.”
Her story is not just personal. It represents a growing human bridge between two vibrant regions, carried forward by students who travel far, learn deeply, and return transformed. Through shared meals, laughter, learning, and festivals, these students are quietly, powerfully shaping the relationship between two continents
What she didn’t expect was that this journey would quietly rewire her sense of identity, challenge her assumptions about the world, and open a door to a country that felt unfamiliar yet strangely welcoming from the very first day.
Camila answered our India–LATAM exchange survey like many students do — carefully, checking boxes, writing practical details. But behind those answers lived a much larger, more textured story. Her responses became a window into the kind of transformation that happens only when someone leaves everything they know and walks into a world built on different rhythms, values, tastes, and languages. Every moment became a lesson in adaptability, empathy, and discovery.
Choosing India: A Decision Rooted in Curiosity, Defiance, and a Desire to Grow
On the survey, Camila selected several motivations for choosing India: scholarships, affordability, academic specialization, and cultural interest. But when she spoke about it later, the truth revealed itself with more emotion.
“Most people around me were applying to the U.S. or Europe. I didn’t want to follow the same map everyone else was using. I wanted to learn something new — not just academically, but about myself.”
The decision surprised her family. Her grandmother was both amused and concerned, repeating her famous line for weeks: “India, mija? Why so far?”
Camila understood their worry. India, for many in her community, was a place of stereotypes: heat, crowds, spices, temples. But for her, it was a place that sparked curiosity rather than fear. She had spent hours reading, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, imagining the streets, the sounds, the smells — but nothing prepared her for the reality.
The scholarship helped. So did the uniqueness of the program she wanted to pursue. But ultimately, she admits it was the desire to grow in a direction no one around her had chosen. That boldness became a thread running through every experience she had over the next year: from navigating crowded streets to making friends from different continents, from negotiating a hostel room to celebrating festivals she had only seen online.
Arrival: Noise, Heat, Kindness, and the First Real Lessons in Adaptation
Camila rated the visa and admissions process as a “4 out of 5” in difficulty — long queues, complicated forms, emails that took weeks to get answers. But she also said it taught her the first soft skill of international life: patience, and the importance of small victories.
The moment she stepped out of the airport in India, everything hit at once.
“The heat felt like a physical force,” she recalls. It wasn’t just hot — it was alive, wrapping itself around her before she even found her luggage cart. The noise was louder, the colors more saturated, the energy more intense than anything she had imagined. The streets were crowded with vehicles honking in symphony, people moving in all directions, and vendors calling out offers in a melodic chaos that felt overwhelming and thrilling all at once.
And yet, in that storm of newness, she found unexpected comfort. A stranger helped her negotiate with a taxi driver. Another young woman guided her to a kiosk to buy a SIM card. Someone else explained how to use a digital payment app. These tiny acts of kindness softened the shock of arrival and gave her the courage to face the days ahead.
“I felt overwhelmed, but not alone. That made all the difference. It was my first lesson in how a country can be unfamiliar and welcoming at the same time.”
The first week was a blur of smells, sounds, and constant learning — how to cross a busy street, how to bargain for groceries, how to understand regional accents, how to trust that she could navigate the unknown. Each small success became a quiet celebration, and each mistake a reminder to stay curious rather than anxious.
Academic Life: Demanding, Inspiring, and Full of Global Conversations
When asked how the education system differed from the one in her home country, Camila didn’t hesitate.
First, the courses were more theory-driven than she expected. Professors pushed students to read widely, question deeply, and show independence rather than rely on constant guidance. She learned to structure her own studies, manage time efficiently, and ask thoughtful questions — skills she had never needed to practice so rigorously before.
Second, the rhythm was intense. Assignments came fast; exams required both memory and critical thinking; deadlines appeared quickly on her calendar. Camila recalls nights spent poring over texts while listening to distant music from other students’ rooms, learning not just about academic topics, but about the discipline of consistency and perseverance.
Third, professor-student dynamics were intriguing. At first, she found them formal and distant. But with time, she realized the formality was cultural — not emotional. Many of her professors became mentors once she approached them with enthusiasm, offering guidance on research projects, practical advice for internships, and even encouragement during moments of homesickness.
Finally, there was the diversity. Her classmates came from across India — and from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The classroom became a miniature world where every debate carried cultural layers she had never considered before. Discussions on economics, social policy, and environmental studies were enriched by multiple perspectives, giving her a global lens, she had never experienced at home.
These academic challenges stretched her brain and her confidence. She learned not only content but also how to articulate ideas in a global setting — something she now considers one of the most valuable parts of her experience.
Daily Life: The Art of Becoming Part of a New Culture
Camila lives in student housing, a crowded but vibrant building where hallways echo with music, late-night conversations, and the smell of spices drifting from kitchens. The rooms are simple, but each corner feels alive with shared experience.
Adjusting wasn’t easy. The food was the biggest shock. At first, she avoided anything red or orange, assuming it would burn her tongue. Slowly, she began experimenting — tasting biryani, chole, crispy doses, endless kinds of chai. She grew to love the warmth of Indian hospitality around meals. Yet, she also cooked arepas and ajiaco whenever she could find ingredients, weaving her own culture into this new space.
Festivals became her gateway into the heart of Indian culture. During her first Holi, she found herself covered in bright colors and surrounded by laughter, dancing with people she had known only for a few weeks. On Diwali, she sat with classmates lighting small clay lamps, sharing sweets, and exchanging stories about family traditions and personal memories. These moments were when India stopped being a place she merely lived in and became a place she belonged to.
Friendships followed naturally. Group projects turned into shared meals, roommates became confidants, and shared cultural confusion became a source of humor and bonding. She learned to navigate the city, bargain in markets, ride auto-rickshaws, and celebrate victories with the kind of joy India is famous for. Every interaction, from late-night chats to festival games, built a sense of belonging that made homesickness manageable and adventure constant.
Future Plans: Turning Experience into Purpose
Studying in India reshaped Camila’s vision for her future.
She now wants to work in cultural exchange programs, international cooperation, or organizations connecting India and Latin America. Living abroad helped her understand both regions more clearly — their similarities, their misunderstandings, and their potential to collaborate.
She feels drawn to roles that build bridges between continents, especially in education, culture, and social development. Her experience has taught her that empathy, adaptability, and cross-cultural communication are as valuable as academic achievement.
Her top advice for students considering a similar journey reflects her own transformation:
Top 3 Tips from Camila
1. Come with an open mind. The unfamiliar will challenge you, but it will also teach you more than you expect.
2. Be patient — with paperwork, with adaptation, with yourself. Everything gets easier with time.
3. Say yes to invitations. Festivals, group hangouts, food tastings, campus events — this is where real connection happens.
Conclusion: One Story That Represents Thousands
Camila’s voice is one among hundreds of students connecting India and Latin America in ways that statistics or policy documents can’t fully capture. Her journey shows that international education is not just about degrees — it’s about building empathy, curiosity, and long-lasting bonds across continents.
“India didn’t just give me new knowledge; it gave me a new version of myself. Now I feel like I live between two worlds — and both feel like home.”
Her story is not just personal. It represents a growing human bridge between two vibrant regions, carried forward by students who travel far, learn deeply, and return transformed. Through shared meals, laughter, learning, and festivals, these students are quietly, powerfully shaping the relationship between two continents
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