NYU Buenos Aires student Anushua Choudury is the first Student Senator-at-Large to study away while maintaining her university government responsibilities. Learn a bit more about this sophomore and her experience in Buenos Aires.
School of Origin: FAS – Liberal Studies / Global Liberal Studies
Concentration: Politics, Rights and Development
Congratulations, you are the first Student Senator to go abroad while still holding your post and fulfilling all the responsibilities. Does that feel like pressure?
Thank you. Yes, for sure. At first, when I was told that I would be the first Senator abroad, everyone said: “Who better to do it with, but also we’re looking at you to see how we can fit Shanghai and Abu Dhabi into the mix.” So, it’s definitely making me more aware of how to be sure I can video-conference in to all the meetings and reply to all the documents. That way the new Senators and the new Faculty on the Faculty Senators Council and on the Committees I work with will know me.
It’s starting to sound more complex already – how many government structures do you have to serve on?
I am just serving on the Student Senators Council, and within that I work on 3 committees.
Can we ask you what they are?
The Academic Affairs Committee, the All-University Events Committee, and the Global Affairs Committee.
How is this different from when you were on the Square and physically present for duties?
Last year I served on a University Senate Committee; I was on the University Judicial Board. But unfortunately due to the fact that I am not physically present in NY right now, I cannot serve on a University committee (which involves people from all of the other Councils, the Deans, the Faculty Senators, representatives from the Administrative Management Council, and other students).
How do you stay connected even though you are so far away, being in Argentina?
I video-conference in to all of our meetings, to my weekly committee meetings as well as my SSC meetings. I will also start calling in to the University Senate meetings, which are held once a month. This is a new process for everyone, so we’re all learning. If something doesn’t go right the first time around, the Executive Committee of the SSC reaches out to me; we are always in conversations about how to do things better.
Do you find this detracts from or hinders your ability to immerse as much as you’d like in the project of global study, meaning being here in South America? Can you explore as much as you’d like, can you dedicate all necessary time to your studies and planned travel? It must be a balancing act.
Yes, but it was a balancing act in NY as well. I am especially lucky to be able to stay connected like this to NY, especially after my last year of being in Student Government, which was one of the best highlights of my NYU experience. It’s also cool how I can bring in the global dimension because I have this experience. For example, for the All-University Events Committee, we always talk about Violet 100, and now we are planning to host a Global Day of Service during Violet 100 – that’s exciting to think about, and it gives me a concrete sense of how meaningful it actually is for me a Senator who is specifically drawing on having a global experience too.
Background:
When you apply to be Senator, you can be either a Senator at your school or a Senator at Large. Last year I was a School Senator for Liberal Studies. School elections happen after Spring Break, end March or beginning April, and about two weeks after School senators have been elected, we have the application process for Senator-at-Large, which is not an elected post but rather appointed by the other Senators. Last year was the first time we had global submissions for Senator-at-Large. So the current School Senators elect the Senators-at-Large (now there are several).
What would like to bring back to NY from your year spent abroad in Argentina?
On the Square we are always talking about the GNU and every committee whether it’s student services or academic affairs, the GNU always comes up. Very few Senators though have had the experience of studying abroad because when you are in Student Government, you have gone into NYU thinking “ok at some point I am going to take some time off to go abroad” because it’s so easy to do that when you’re at NYU – but then you become so involved, and it’s so intense that you end up deferring the idea of going abroad or you just go for a J-Term or a short-term experience, and that’s really not the same. So I’m really excited to go back and represent that voice that we always talk about but haven’t yet had tangibly among us.
Thank you. That is exciting. One last question: why did you choose Buenos Aires?
I have traveled a lot. Since High School, I had thought Madrid would be my spot because I’ve always loved Sevilla. But when it came time to decide where to go, I realized I wanted to go outside my comfort zone, really immerse myself in a culture that is foreign to me, new and challenging in other ways. ¡Acá estoy!