College of an Immigrant

Today I interviewed Kavita Gosai, a native of India. Kavita traveled to the United States to be with her husband from an arranged marriage. She said that you can do anything in India if you move to America, the "land of opportunity". Because she is married, becoming a United States citizen for her was easier than for most other immigrants. While adjusting to this country she has faced two major challenges, being a vegetarian and speaking English. Being Hindu, it is against Kavita's religion to eat meat. She has found that many restaurants do not have a large selection of vegetarian choices and usually her order will contain meat products even if she specifically requested none. Before moving to the states, Kavita learned English but it was nothing compared to using it all day, everyday. While she knows she may mispronounce words or phrases, Kavita insists for everyone to correct her each time and insists everyone who she has come across has been very helpful and supportive. Two of her favorite pastimes here are shopping and bowling. She stated that shopping malls in India are just now becoming what the malls are like here. Kavita also enjoys the western style of clothing such as jeans and tank tops where as in India these items are looked down upon. Like clothing, she prefers to wear a wedding band instead of embracing the bindi, a small painted red dot in between the eyes of a married Indian woman. Kavita admits that certain habits have changed since moving here but because they have become so much a part of her everyday life she could not identify them. Kavita is continuing to study business as she did in India. After graduation from UNCG she hopes to obtain a MBA but is still deciding what to do after.