English professor Jyoti Panjwani’s phone bill was very expensive when she attended her first semester of graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Just like many students starting at a new school, Panjwani was homesick and called her parents everyday. The main difference that set Panjwani apart from her classmates was her parents were in India.

Panjwani was born in Mumbai, India, and had never moved away from home. She worked for her undergraduate degree while still living at with her parents.

This made the move to the United States in the fall of 1989 a shocking experience.

“It was initially very tough,” Panjwani said.

Panjwani said she “came here to basically see the West,” but experiencing the more formal culture in the U.S. was a different experience for her than what she was used to in India.

She added U of I had a great support system for international students, and by the second semester, she was fine.

Panjwani said she found many differences in education between America and India.

The curriculum in India was rigorous and competitive, she added.

“I remember all we did before we got admission in the university of our choice was study,” Panjwani said.

While at the U of I as a graduate assistant, Panjwani said she found her love for teaching.

“From the first day, students responded to me positively,” Panjwani said.

Panjwani said she continued at the school to get her doctorate before applying to work at Eastern.

She said few positions were available when she applied for a job but thought Eastern’s position to teach about eastern cultures was made for her.

Panjwani said she enjoys encouraging thought, discussion, critical thinking and cultural awareness in her students.

“(My students) also told me that by learning about other cultures, they understand their own culture in a much more critical light,” Panjwani said.

She said she tries to give her students an understanding of other cultures so they don’t follow stereotypical ideas of other cultures.

“The one thing I would like my students to learn is that all people of the world, regardless of their race, gender, nationality, class, culture and religion, ought to be treated with respect and dignity,” Panjwani said.

English Department Chair Dana Ringuette said Panjwani brings to the department a “scholarly background in literary and cultural foundations.”

Ringuette said she has an expertise in post-colonial literature.

Panjwani also teaches about her culture outside the classroom as the faculty sponsor of the relaxation club this semester.

She said she meditates on a regular basis to keep calm with the deadlines and work in her life.

With her family still in India, Panjwani said she can still see the cultural differences when she goes back to visit.

She said the culture here is more individualistic, while India’s culture focuses more on the community.

“Now, the culture gap is shrinking because of globalization,” Panjwani said. “Every time I go to India, I see it more and more Americanized.”

Sara Cuadrado can be reached at 581-7942 or at slcuadrado@eiu.edu.