August 16, 2015, three days before the start of new student orientation at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Among the students arriving, Harsh Rana moved into his dorm in Stoddard Hall. This cinderblock triple dorm would be his new home thousands of miles away from his family. He left India to pursue his dream of aerospace engineering.
Harsh lived in New Delhi, the capital of India, with his father and two siblings. His parents were separated in 2005 when he was only 8 years old so he and his siblings lived with their dad. Their father is strict, typical of India, and works as a surgeon for the government of India. He received all his schooling in India and is considered a “first generation city person.” Harsh’s grandfather was a farmer in rural India. Harsh would be considered “first generation U.S.”
Of his siblings, Harsh is the favorite in his father’s eyes and receives the most support. This is due to the fact that Harsh pursued engineering, one of the most elite professions. His brother received the least support since he pursued acting, a career where “you either make it or you starve.” His sister was a “lost duck” for a while as an undecided undergrad major in India and now studying marketing in design school in Germany.
His brother’s passion for theatre was also expressed by Harsh. He was the president of the theatre club at his high school. They put on structured performances, but Harsh preferred the “street plays.” Street play is an informative form of performing similar to a flash mob that calls attention to topics that need awareness. They would go to different parts of the city, including the slums, and begin their performance. First, they would use their drum to make noise and call attention to the upcoming show. They had songs and jingles they would use to capture people’s attention. Once they got people interested, they would walk with those people and gather more along the way until they had a big enough crowd. They would organize the crowd into a circle and line the performers along the inside perimeter of the circle. They took turns performing on the “stage,” or center of the circle, and watching from the circle perimeter. Harsh said he enjoyed this form of performing more than the traditional form of performing because it was a raw form of expressing ideas. It was comfortable and fun, and if you forgot a line you could improv with the mood of the performance or pull audience members onto stage.
This love of acting nearly grew into an occupation for Harsh as well when he considered going to school for theatre. However, he made his father proud when he went to study engineering. In case there was any chance of a future pursuit of theatre, it was fully destroyed freshman year when Harsh auditioned for a performance. When reading for the main character, he was told his accent was too thick for the role and this hurt.
A person’s accent is a big part of who they are. Since then, he has done research on changing his accent and has noticed microaggressions such as “how is your English so good?” Harsh has worked to add or remove parts of his accent to sound less Indian. He noted that our generation is twisted in that regard. We are quick to make comments that could potentially hurt someone’s feelings, but are sensitive when we are on the receiving end. There is a great imbalance that stems from a person’s motives and their familiarity with the person talking.
Since a young age, Harsh had his heart set on coming to the States. With aerospace in mind, he was drawn by big companies such as NASA and SpaceX. When it came to college acceptance, he was discouraged by the lack of financial aid and scholarship. Harsh was preparing to take a gap year when he received the acceptance letter from WPI as his saving grace.
The school made it onto Harsh’s radar through the use of Google. Its engineering program is one of the few that offers aerospace as an undergraduate major. Additionally, the quarter-based system and project-based learning spoke to Harsh. He made many provisions before coming to America regarding good, clothing, and public transportation. However, the biggest shock came when classes began.
Once he was here and taking classes, he noticed a significant cultural difference. In India, the cultural style is more group-based and “cohesive” than the fast-paced, individualized, impersonal style of New England. There was also a huge difference in the professor approach to teaching. In India the professors are thought to be one step below a god, very strict, and never questioned, but in America, Harsh found the professors approachable, friendly, and personable becoming a peer to many of them.
Although he made connections with many professors and faulty, he soon realized that being an international student limits your ability to innovation and entrepreneurship. You cannot start a business. You cannot employ people. The only business platform you can start is an NGO or non-profit.
