Introducing Myself!

Hi CIEE applicants and participants! I feel incredibly honored to be able to share my experience in India with all of you! My name is Magnolia Howe, and I'm from Denver, Colorado. I attend Denver School of the Arts as an orchestra major, and I will be a junior in high school next year. I love music, and I have been playing violin for almost 13 years. I've dabbled in mandolin and guitar, but violin is my main, and favorite, instrument. The program I'm going on is 'Empowering Girls Through Health Education' in Hyderabad, India. The night I was casually scrolling through study abroad opportunities, this one instantly jumped out at me. I was completely sold after just a few minutes of reading through the program description and googling Hyderabad. I picked this program because I am very passionate about women's rights, I am interested in a career in the medical sciences, and I've wanted to go to India for as long as I can remember! I'm not quite sure what to expect from this program, but I'm sure I will have gained valuable insight into Indian culture and life after it is over. I hope I can really help to make a difference in the lives of the girls we will be working with, and bring my insight from this program home to apply it to similar work in the United States, as well as to different aspects of my life. To prepare for this program, I have been reading articles and books about Indian culture, as well as talking to my friends and family who have been to India. (This is all in addition to the mandatory Canvas work which was extremely helpful, and made me feel much more prepared for the program). Additionally, the girls in my program have made a group chat, where we have been answering each other's questions and getting to know each other. I'm so happy I have gotten an opportunity to connect with the other program participants before we travel internationally together, and spend the next three weeks in each other's company. As travel day rapidly approaches, I'm starting to get the usual pre-travel emotions of excitement and nervousness. I'm actually leaving a little early to spend a day in New York with my mom before I meet up with the group, so my flight to JFK departs in about 8 hours! Wow, I still have a bunch of things to print out, and more stuff to shove in my backpack. (I hope I don't forget anything too important! As long as I have my passport, visa, and debit card, I think I should be ok!) I'm so excited to meet the others in my program, and go to India after all these months of planning and waiting and wondering!