Soundslides3

Whew! Finally done! Well here is my third soundslides. It was a good experience. Tougher than I thought, but after cutting out all the unnecessary bits (heart wrenching!) here is the final product soundslides3. I will elaborate on my experience soon.

Soundslides two

I actually had a lot of fun doing this assignment. I covered the events at the India Cultural and Educational center on 13th street. I have been here for a year and a half and I hadn’t even steeped into the place till now. It was quite emotional for me being there, especially during October.

In India, October is the month for a lot of festivals and celebrations. When I went there I realized how they bring a piece of home right to another country. I also really liked the idea behind its creation. The Indian community in Gainesville was worried by a number of consecutive suicides by Indian students in the city more than a decade ago. It was this that made them come up with a way of integrating Indian and other students into the community here.

Going there helps a lot of shy and introverted students open up because there isn’t the unfamiliarity of a “foreign land”. The organizers themselves admit that after the first semester, when the students get acclimatized they don’t often return. But they are still satisfied with helping them get over the initial hiccups.

Also, the best part about this place is there is no restriction on who can organize events there. You don’t have to be an Indian. In fact, the latest event there is going to be a Lebanese soiree. Even for the Indian events, as you can see from the soundslides, there are a lot of students from different nationalities participating.

Personally , what I love best about their approach is the fact that there is no religion involved! Being an atheist and coming from a religious country, that was quite a relief. It was a refreshing experience to see people doing good just for humanity’s sake.

Oh! And here are the results from my soundslides2.