After having lunch (and dessert) in the company of Vishal, the gold fish (who they placed on my table to keep me company), it was time to head back to New York City.
Thanks for ‘listening’ and we will be back soon!
Last stop: Hyderabad! I attended our first ever QS fair, which was a great event. The fair provided a good mix of undergraduate and graduate students, who seemed both well-prepared and very qualified. There was a steady flow of students and I ended up staying 45 minutes after the event to finish talking to students.
After Ahmedabad, the next destination was Chennai, where I got a chance to catch up with the good folks at ELS, our newly appointed agent. Luckily, that group includes Minakshi Basak, who worked in the Office of International Recruitment through August of last year. So lovely to see her, as always!
Having expressed profound enthusiasm for Gujarati food during my last visit, the AEMS group brought me back to my favorite restaurant in Ahmedabad - Swati! If you find yourself in Ahmedabad or Mumbai, a visit to Swati is a must (http://swatisnacks.com). A word to the wise - go to dinner with someone who knows Gujarati food because it comes with a lot of instructions!
After another SIEC fair in Hyderabad, during which I spoke to around 80 students in total (initially one at the time and, towards the end of the event, in groups of 6-8), I headed to Ahmedabad for another SIEC fair and to spend a day with AEMS.
AEMS organized a full day of activities for me, including visits to several schools and a customized SUNY information session (see photos above). The event also featured presentations by Jyoti Shukla from AEMS and U.S. immigration expert, Dr. Sudhir Shah.
The second stop on my trip was Kochi in Kerala. The SIEC fair was a bit smaller here, but still with a good mix of students looking for a variety of study areas and from Bachelor to PhD levels.
The SIEC fair in Bangalore had a good number of students looking for undergraduate and graduate opportunities in the U.S. There was a constant flow of students and enough time to speak to each one of them individually.
Ps. I did not wear purposely wear that shirt to match the prospectus!
Next stop: India! A week after Krista returned to the office, Kirsten headed off on a two week trip to India to participate in a series of agent fairs and in-office agent training sessions.
Here I am at the UStudy Tel Aviv fair. Lots of Israeli students know about and want to come to NY so the SUNY booth was a big hit!
A traditional breakfast called shakshouka - eggs baked in tomato sauce served with hallah bread, Israeli salad, and tahini. And a large ice coffee. A perfect meal before a busy day!
It's that time of year again - recruitment travel time! This year you can expect blog posts from both Krista Northup and Kirsten Feddersen as we will both be out on the road representing SUNY this Spring. Send us your questions or any stories you have about travel, recruitment, or anything in between! Happy Travels!
