A “Brave New World”
My journey as a Borlaug-Ruan Intern started as I hurriedly looked for my terminal in Chicago. I was in terminal 1 going to the international terminal which was terminal 5. As I reached what was to be the train transport system, I was halted by a “do not enter” sign. Confusion hit me. I reached out to one of the airport authorities who suggested me to get on the buses. After shifting two terminals and asking many more authorities, I reached the gate to the buses. In relief, I sat for 15 minutes waiting for people to line up. No one showed up. I reread the billboard to find out that the bus system starts at 11:00 a.m. The current time was 9:30 a.m. and boarding for my flight started at 12:20 p.m. It would cut close if I were to hop on the interterminal bus system so I explored around and found another way to get to terminal 5. It was a bit of a chaotic start to my journey.
My flight landed in New Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport. The familiarity of chaos surrounded me. People rushing out of flights in an unorderly fashion, and cars were jam packed outside of the airport. It hit me that the people around me had come used to this chaos and it was just a part of life. Living in a medium sized town, I was used to very little to no disorganization. Seeing all of this and the thought of living in a new place was exciting!
The kind driver had kept me good company as we drove to the foundation. I continued to see the disorganization as we drove down to the S.M Sehgal Foundation. The highway was extremely crowded with up to 8 vehicles fitting in 4 lanes. People were honking, braking, shifting gears and swerving. It was a bit overwhelming but interesting. There were buildings of many different sizes ranging from small stores to skyscrapers that towered over the city. There was so much going outside and I wanted to join the chaos.
Serenity hit me as the undersized minivan entered the gates of the S.M Sehgal Foundation. The tan buildings with many trees stood out from the rest of the city. The driver parked the car next to what looked to be a dorm building and another man came over to take my luggage. Again, this man was very kind and showed me to the room. It was a room with a bed, closet, chair, study area and restroom. As I sat down to call my parents, friends and family, I took a breath and smiled. I was in a brave new world.
I started my exploration of this new life the day after I landed. Derek, who was a week ahead of me, took me to a store to get me a sim card. We called for an Uber which took us to an abandoned building. According to the map, the JIO store was in this building. We were completely thrown off and decided to go to another store. There, I learned that I needed a reference that had to be an Indian resident. Unfortunately, we were not able to accomplish anything that day besides getting some Indian snacks and Starbucks. It was a great introduction that more awareness and research would be needed.
Without Doctor Borlaug’s dedication to keeping the young generations aware of food insecurity and agriculture, us students would have never had the opportunity to learn the truth about the world we live in. I am very proud and honored to receive this great opportunity to work hand to hand with the world’s innovators to help address the issues of hunger. As I begin my research project and explore this new world, I will remember this quote, “Everything else can wait, agriculture can’t.” — Doctor Norman E. Borlaug
