In an incredibly short timespan I’ve started to evolve from a chronically overthinking kid who’d never left the Pacific to a strong-willed, highly adaptable intern living like a local. The cheat code is Mumbai pushing me to treat every day like a new level in the video game of life. I understand this sounds like a lame gimmick but it’s truly allowed me to unlock a better, more multifaceted version of myself in Mumbai.
I stumbled across this ideology last week during one of our daily dinner debriefs. One of the first traditions our cohort established when we arrived in India was the coming together for kai at the end of each day and diving into both vulnerable and comical korero. We all discuss the highs and lows of our individual internships (and everything in between).
During one of these collective reflection sessions, I was sharing my experiences from an emotionally challenging day in the field and was leaning on my peers for support. Everyone dropped their two-cents and the following sentiment was proposed… “Don’t stress so much Talia, the population here is over 26 million, try to think of them as NPC’s in a video game”.
For whatever reason, this really resonated with me so I experimentally applied that thinking for about two weeks and the results have been absolutely game changing.
I started implementing this idea by viewing my internship as a side quest that allows me to level-up and hone my soft and hard skills (particularly in content development, graphic design, research and report writing, teaching, public speaking, stakeholder connection, etc).
This then extended to me viewing trains as an opportunity to teleport from one game stage to the next. I get to play the part of different characters throughout my days which is both a privilege and a tool. My character catalogue thus far includes, hardworking intern, curious traveller, cultural ambassador, exchange student at NNIMS, CAS concert attendee, arts festival enthusiast, Prime Minister Scholar, friend, roommate, etc. Each character faces different challenges, learns different skills and has different goals.
I only entertained this idea because I’m on the other side of the world, so it didn’t feel like there would be any real consequences but I wish I’d tried this sooner. I implore anyone reading to abandon their comfort zone, unlock different characters and level up!
