Kritika Mahanti is a full-time student at Columbia SPS. She is passionate about marketing and communication and has previously worked as content strategist in the publishing and media sector in India.
At the Indian Student’s Association at Columbia, our goal is to build a community and foster growth and brotherhood amongst Indian students in the University. Being a part of ISAC’s core committee has given me the opportunity to introduce and implement a new initiative that helps support and assist Indian students with their academic and extra-curricular journey at Columbia.
For many of us, moving to a new country and destination can be a difficult transition to adapt to, but seeking assistance from peers can help ease the process and provide comfort in times of need. ISAC has been committed to building a strong community of students, and this year we have gone further to welcome volunteers from countries like Mauritius that have a large Indian diaspora and share a history of close social-cultural ties with India.
For many of us, moving to a new country and destination can be a difficult transition.
Our brand new team of volunteers are known as ISAC’s Peer Support Ambassadors and will function as an extended wing of ISAC’s core board. The team is responsible for resolving student queries and grievances, helping students with survival tips, and getting them in touch with the appropriate resources to promote a safe and healthy lifestyle away from home.
The Ambassadors communicate with students through helplines on phone, email, and video to provide support and advice to on-going students at the university. Our newly comprised team of ambassadors has a good mix of students who belong to the various schools at Columbia including SPS and SEAS. My colleagues at ISAC have been very supportive and approving of this new proposal. We are a close knit committee and I have been closely working with the ISAC President, and heads of digital, communications and finance to build to expand our outreach across the university.
My colleagues at ISAC have been very supportive and approving of this new proposal.
The primary motive of this initiative is to build an ecosystem of support in the university especially for students of South Asian origin. Although Columbia has well established administrative teams to cater to students issues and queries, including support groups for Black and Hispanic students, we feel that Indian students too have their unique needs and our team will help bridge any communication gap that exists between the administration and students in the university.
As we take baby steps to establish a team of ambassadors we also want to focus on getting the word out to students who want advise and support and are more than welcome to contact our ambassadors. I hope this new project is able to create sense of bonding and comfort amongst the Indian community in Columbia.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any other person or entity.
