Welham Girls' School

From the moment we stepped into New York we knew this was going to be a trip full of memories. From the 4th of July till the 14th, we were buzzing with excitement, constantly learning and growing. The Groton School G-PIE 2023 Conference was an interdisciplinary learning opportunity for many students across eight countries, its themes being Culture, AI and Water. On the evening of the 9th, we received a warm welcome from the most hospitable faculty of The Groton School. We dressed up in our Indian attire for an introduction with the Headmaster Mr. Temba Maqubela, representing the vast colours of our culture. Later that evening we were all assigned an advisory, a group of friends we worked with and checked upon daily.

 

After breakfast every morning we were taken on walks, our favourite being the one to the Nashua River with Dr. David Black, who told us about the history of the river and how the water was cleaned over the years. We also walked to Lake Romeyn where Vidya picked berries and we found many poisonous species of mushrooms. These walks were followed by group discussions and breakout sessions among the students, where we discussed various topics such as water security in our countries and the use of AI in the present and future. These discussions highlighted many aspects of different cultures and countries and allowed us to better understand each other and our communities. We found ourselves bonding over similarities between the cultures, sharing personal narratives and reflecting on others' cultural experiences and identities. We attended various Talks on AI and Water with exemplary keynote speakers who nurtured our curiosities and enriched our knowledge. 

 

On the 11th of July, there was an Intercultural Performance where Vidya performed kathak, Shreem and Arushree sang Indian Classical music in Raag Malhaar and Samaira gave a presentation on the eight forms of the Hindu Goddess Devi. We were awestruck by all the performances put up by the other schools and their flourishing portrayal of their cultures. These performances illuminated each culture with a charm of its own and brought us a new viewpoint of everything we knew about them.

 

 Outside of The GPIE Conference, we stayed in New York for four days, where we watched the mesmerising 4th of July Fireworks. We will never forget running across Times Square for miles to watch them. We visited The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and learned about their history and the beginning of immigration. We immensely enjoyed exploring the city as we were dealt with a great deal of adventures from attempting to use the subway and figuring out the metro lines to navigating across streets with Google Maps. We can proudly say that by the end of those 4 days, we had the streets and lanes etched into our memory and our appetite for adventure increased. We trekked around town discovering new places to eat and exclaiming at the neverending line outside Joe’s Pizza. We also enjoyed visiting MIT Science Museum, the Harvard Art Gallery and the Boston Fine Arts Museum.

 

This trip was a core memory which did not just strengthen the bonds between us but also gave us an opportunity to make new ones around the world which we will treasure forever. We formed many budding friendships and still deeply miss everyone we met on the trip whom we made lifelong memories with. It was a truly heartwarming and enlightening experience. It introduced us to an entirely new environment as we learnt how to adapt and grow with the changes. These few days nurtured our spontaneity, emphasized the value of communication and collaboration and building empathy. We are thankful for getting this incredible opportunity and sharing it with our wonderful teacher Mrs Jyoti Vasudev.

 

 - Vidya Jhamb, Shreem Miglani,  Samaira Agarwal and Arushree Kashyap