Shruthi, BA English Literature
Hello, my name is Shruthi and I am an English Literature student at Surrey. During my summer holidays, I took part in a summer programme at La Montessori School in Kullu, Manali, and stepped in as a temporary teacher for around a month and a half. The funding from the university helped us a lot with making the booking process smooth and we even had some money left over for food and souvenirs whilst we were living at the school*.
Initially, I was not sure what to expect but overall, it was an enriching experience despite the occasional ups and downs. Upon our arrival in Kullu, we were met with our peers from University of East London and allocated different year groups to focus on during our time at the school. This allowed us to alter our teaching plans accordingly, and also bond more closely with our students and teachers. The students were mostly really attentive and eager to learn from foreign teachers like us and would often ask about cultural differences between the UK and India, so it was fun talking to them outside of lessons too! The teachers themselves were very welcoming and helped us manage the classes and some even contributed with what we were teaching. A special shout-out to the principal as she always took time out of her busy schedule to talk to us and take us to new places like Manikaran and Kasol, and Uday and Avantika who helped us a lot.
Alongside the teaching aspects, we were also able to travel around quite often on the weekend and on national holidays, such as Independence Day. Often exploring the nearby towns like Bhunter, visiting the Buddhist monastery and even travelling up to Old Manali were my highlights of the programme, as we were able to fully interact with different people and cultures. The locals were so friendly and always willing to help us, and there were so many things to look at and buy, especially jewellery and clothes. With a lot of things to do and buy, we were always surprised by the beauty of our surroundings and honestly, and it complemented the teaching quite well as we would sometimes use what we saw as examples for teaching the kids examples of descriptive writing etc. I believe that this experience can be especially good for people who want to volunteer and meet new people at the same time as it’s impossible to form friendships while you’re there!
*Funding is available to contribute towards the costs of going abroad, and the cost of Surrey Summer Opportunities can vary between mobilities. Funding is subject to application and availability, and funding allocations may be subject to change for the academic year of participation.
