Everyone has an extended family, but how many of us have a sixteen-hour flight ahead of us if we want to go and visit them? Family is a part of everyone’s life but it can be a challenge to maintain from across continents.

Over winter break, senior Harshita Reddy had the opportunity to visit India in order to attend the wedding of her cousin.

“It was amazing,” Harshita says, “I got to see my cousins and extended family for the first time in two years and they were all on break as well so we were able to spend a lot of time together which was wonderful!”

Having visited India about eight times since her childhood, upon arriving, Harshita was already familiar with the country but this was her first time attending a wedding there. “It was a Catholic wedding,” she explains, “so there was a Mass (unfortunately for me not in English) but there were a lot of India’s customs worked into the Mass that were very interesting while the vows themselves were rather close to what they are here.”

While getting to spend time with her family, Harshita loved getting to reconnect with her cultural identity. Although it was sometimes a challenge to communicate with those around her because of the specific colloquial phrases which she was unfamiliar with, spending three weeks speaking their language and dressing in Indian clothing each day helped her to fully immerse herself in the culture and rediscover some of the aspects of which she had not been exposed to in two years.

“It was a wonderful three week escape from reality where I was not only able to reconnect with my family but also with my culture.”

Bringing home an abundance of Indian clothing and other items but also a rejuvenated connection to her culture, Harshita Reddy has returned from her trip with an appreciation for the values of family and heritage and looks forward to returning to India again in the future.