AN EXPERIENCE NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN

AN EXPERIENCE NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN
By Anita Shrimali

'Please fasten your seatbelts, we are ready for landing.'

There I was on my way to Chinmaya International Residential School located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. it was a difficult decision to make, but I really wanted to try it. it all started out as a family converation about how everyone in my family had studied in India except for me. As we were already familiar with the Chinmaya Mission Program, we went on the internet to find out more about it. of course it was hard for me to stay without my family for a year, but I thought that it would be a great experience.

As soon as I reached the campus, I felt like it was no different from home. The friendly people, the modernized architecture and facilities, everything put together made me feel really comfortable. Being a foreigner in a country is very hard, but at Chinmaya International Residential School, you don't even realize that you have come from abroad.

Everyday we woke up early in the morning to go for morning exercise and then to our spiritual class. At this point, the younger students would elarn about the Mahabharatha or the Ramayana, while the elder student would go for their morning Satsung. After this, we would go back to the dorms to get ready with our school uniforms. After breakfast, we would go to the multi-purpose hall for our assembly where we chanted our prayers and heard daily announcements as well as the news. During school we would have a twenty-minute break for the children to get some fresh air and have a little snack. But the time school was finished we would rush to the dining hall and eat lunch. of course after eating such a delicious meal, we would all rest for about an hour. After resting, we would study and do home work until we were off to play sports and games. because we were all so dirty, we would wash up and get ready for Aarti which was conducted by one of the two resident Sanyasis. From the Aarti hall, we would walk down tot he shool block to attend supervised studies for an hour and a half. From there we would again rush to the dining hall dinner. Rest time was then given for a half an hour until it was time to get up and study for another hour. Bedtime was at ten o'clock, but if necessary, you could stay up longer for studies.

The students would have a variety of meals every week. We were given Indian, Chinese, Continental, and all other types of food as well. Snacks were given twice a day nd milk was given three times. The staff at the school would go out of their way to make sure that each and everyone of the students were safe healthy and happy.

Everytime I think of all the different kinds of sports and games that they offered, I am still amazed. They had basketball, hockety, cricket, tennis, table tennis, swimming, volleyball, co-co, kabaddi, carrom, soccer, and many more. On top of all this, they even offer horseback riding, and an outstanding gym. The physical education teachers were a lot of fun as well. Physical education class was in the school schedule twice a week. This is when we learned how to play the game so that we could actually play it during games time.

We had many different classes during the week. For sciences we would have Chemistry, Physics and Biology. For social studies we would have Economics, History and Civics. Therey was only one Math class, but in that we would learn all types of math like Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, etc. English and a foreign language were compulsory for every student. We could take French, Spanish, Sanskrit, or Hindi. We were also given electives like art, music, value education, physical education, etc. Classes varied according tot he grade in which the student was in.

Not only was it helpful that the teachers were living on campus, but they were all really nice, friendly, and loved all the children. Our problems were their problems. They were like our temporary parents. If you had a problem or there was something wrong which you may need a lot of help with, you could always go to one of the two resident Sanyasis. 'Didi' and 'Bhaya' always wanted what was best for us and were always there to help us with any problems whether they were social, mental, emotional or even physical, we always knew that they loved us.

As I am here now, I realize that I am a changed person and I owe it to everyone and everything at the school. My one year at Chinmaya International Residential School was an experience never to be forgotten as well as a memory to be forever cherished. even now, it is a home away from home.